Counseling Sessions: Meditation, Conversation, Inquiry

I have not been professionally trained nor licensed as a counselor or a therapist, but my years of practicing and teaching meditation have trained me to see, be with, and to effectively address suffering both in myself and countless others.  My interest and study of the relationship between psychotherapy and meditation has served my own growth well - it is my wish that this curiosity might also help do the same for those that feel so inspired.  Depending on your specific needs and wishes, one-on-one work can be a wonderful way to focus and develop your inner practice of freedom.

'THE REAL WORK'

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

-Wendell Berry

In public classes students have the opportunity to listen to, practice, and integrate what it is that I have to offer.  In private sessions there is the unique opportunity for me to listen to a student's personal perspective on their own life and practice.  Regardless of the form we choose to facilitate our time together, it is ultimately each moment's reality that will lead us, side by side, to the unfolding of greater clarity and knowing - when we rest in what is true, in the one who knows this as present-moment truth, then our own wakeful presence can naturally self-liberate.

AVAILABILITY

Tuesdays - Thursdays, and Saturdays

*If these days do not work for you,

an alternative time may be possible.

Email Jonathan to Inquire

RATES
Cost varies dependent upon each client's unique life situation;

together we will design a plan that appropriately suits your needs.

COST VARIES, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What this means is that depending upon the duration of our session(s) and your current life situation, a sliding scale price range will emerge that naturally suits you; and based upon this range you will then decide upon an appropriate and personally significant amount to offer for our shared time.  In this way, your monetary offering is freed of the restriction of 'set price', and thus it also serves as an opportunity for you to practice dana (the Pali word for 'generosity') outside of our culture's consumer 'law of exchange'.  My time is offered to you, and I am grateful for your choosing to share your life and practice with me - I look forward to it.  Please also keep in mind that for our purposes dana is pre-offered; that is, offered before we meet.

NOTE: For both phone and SKYPE sessions, dana offering is to be made no later than 24hrs prior to our time together - the offering is what confirms and holds your appointment with me; without this 24hrs 'dana notice', your appointment cannot be held and thus will need to be rescheduled.

If you would like a 'financial guidline', the average amount offered per session has been about $100; but again, please offer an appropriate and personally significant amount that is sensitive to your unique life circumstances.

Phone Sessions are available within the United States

SKYPE Sessions may be available in US and elsewhere

*Monetary Offering is required 24hrs prior for both phone and SKYPE sessions (In person sessions can offer dana at our meeting)

*24-hour cancellation policy

LOCATION

Most sessions will take place in the client's own home or office; I very much enjoy the full-spectrum insights that can take place during sessions admidst a client's familiar surroundings - the juxtoposition of fresh perspectives and 'old' environments is often a powerful one.  However, as my counseling practice continues to grow, I may find it necessary and desirable to establish a more permanent office location.

Sessions consist of meditation instruction directed towards a specific area of need in our lives, conversation and dialogue regarding some bit of relevant personal investigation, or a combination of these two elements.  Using a blend of pure awareness and our thinking mind, we hope to unearth the hidden and to better know the partially obscured.

Unless otherwise decided, sessions are 50 minutes in length.

"A person's experience cannot be figured out by others,

or even by the person experiencing it.  It cannot be ex-

pressed in common labels.  It has to be met, found, felt,

attended to, and allowed to show itself."

-Eugene Gendlin from Focusing

SUGGESTED READING

As a way to get the most out of our sessions, I suggest that you read Toward a Psychology of Awakening by John Welwood.  I have found this text very inspiring and informative, and your having read it may support us in finding a common language that helps us to skillfully delve beyond the limitations of semantic meaning and concept.