In my work as a psychotherapist I am more a companion than an authority. My approach is based upon an imaginal, post-Jungian appreciation of the human condition, with roots driven deeply into my own personal experience.
There is no fee for meeting with me the first time: it seems easier to explore the idea of working together in the uninterrupted privacy of my office, where we may learn from each other as much as we need at leisure, rather than hastily over the telephone.
Healing implies much more to me than the solving of certain problems that we may encounter in life. Ultimately, it must involve as well the discovery that life itself has, for each of us, an inherent value and meaning, which gives a clearer sense of our purpose for being here.
With this discovery, those problems that once had seemed overwhelming can be experienced instead in the context of human health and wholeness. When this is understood we become strong enough to contain, resolve, and outgrow those things that once had troubled us.
This is not meant to trivialize the difficulties of life— I know that wrestling with them is of great importance to our growth. I simply do not believe they are insurmountable, and view them more as conditions to be explored and comprehended than as problems to be solved.
In addition to therapeutic dialogue and deep personal inner work (perhaps using such evocative practices as dreamwork, sandtray, or journal-keeping), I also pay close attention to the individual within the family system, because the home will always reflect and amplify the personal life that is lived there.
Themes that generally emerge can include such issues as self-esteem, career choice, relationships, violence and addictions, or the working through of such different transitions in life as youth, marriage, the bearing and raising of children, and the occasional encounter with serious illness, divorce, or death.
Messages may be left at any time with my confidential voicemail, at 707/935-3663. You may write me at PO Box 2108, Glen Ellen CA 95442; I can also receive email at jshere@sonic.net, and of course you are invited to explore this website further. My professional resumé may be found here.