SpirituaL couNselinG

how will you answer the call of your soul?

Whether you are called to healing, spiritual study, or devotion for the sheer joy of it… I am here to accompany you.

Your innermost being already knows the way forward.

I am here to guide your attention to those deepest, wisest parts of your being.

Why spiritual counseling? Is it for me?

At times we benefit from dedicated attention to our spiritual paths. It may be that you are facing a life challenge and feel called to turn towards spirit in this moment of difficulty. Or you might have persistent feelings of stuckness or discontent and need to free up your inner healing intelligence for more easeful, harmonious living. Or perhaps you have tasted the benefits of a plant medicine experience and sense there is a rich path here, yet haven’t quite settled into it and are looking for guidance as to how. It could be there are other reasons as well!

If you are unsure, schedule an initial consultation with me. We can talk through it and see if it there is a mutual fit for working together. I trust the spark of curiosity you are feeling — it is itself a powerful teacher.

What is a session like?

Each 50-minute session takes place over Zoom, or sometimes we can walk in a natural location. The rhythm varies and we will discuss in our initial consult.

What will we do during the session?

Mostly, we will talk about your life and experiences and how they relate to the medicine path. Often, I will invite you into present moment observation of yourself. We may talk about the path itself and I will support your discovery of its nature through direct experience. We may incorporate somatic, expressive arts, meditation, or spiritual practices in the session itself to support your healing, learning, and growth.

Sounds like therapy. Is this therapy?

No, this isn’t therapy and I am not a psychotherapist (although I do have a master’s in clinical psychology, which is sometimes helpful in recognizing when therapy would be useful for you in addition to our work).

How is it different?

There are some key differences to (most) therapy. First, spiritual counseling is oriented around your relationship with spirit for its own sake, and our trust that healing follows naturally from there. We don’t orient around issues and their relief (although that often happens). Second, I have a special focus on medicine work and animism. So for many of my clients I take on a teacher or support role specific to those paths. And finally, our relationship is different. I bring more of myself to the room and relationship than most therapists. At times as benefits you, I may take on the role of teacher, mentor or guide. Of course, I maintain appropriate professional boundaries and remain open to discussion and reorientation of our relationship.

Can you say more about our relationship?

As a spiritual guide I am here to travel with you on your path. I am familiar with the gifts and pitfalls of a medicine path so I can scout obstacles and safer, more expedient routes and hold up a lantern for a dark or overgrowth path. I encourage, celebrate, and accompany you.

Most of all I am just another human here to be a human with you. Sometimes all it takes is the dedicated attention of another for us to feel safe enough to open our hearts to the mystery around us. I hope that through the sincere sharing of my attention and heart, and the creation of a solid frame for your exploration, you will have a space to open your heart to the presence of Spirit all around us.

How does this relate to ritual?

Spiritual counseling sessions can be a place to prepare for or process ritual experiences. For example if you are preparing for a medicine retreat abroad, I can help you prepare appropriately and integrate the experience when you get home.

Prep/integration work is a bridge between the everyday consciousness you are familiar with and altered states of consciousness, which can at times be shocking. They are a place to make sense of what happened and invite its lessons into your everyday awareness in a deeper way. They may also be a place to learn supportive practices. They may also be a place to learn ways of learning the art of ongoing communication with your sacred teachers (outside of ceremony), so that the ceremony experience truly becomes life-integrated if that is what you are called to.

How much does it cost?

My fee is $200/session. I have some sliding scale spots available. Please contact me for details.

Grounded Accompaniment on the Medicine Path

A desire for healing is often what calls us to the medicine path and often presents first. Healing is a multilayered process, and as we all go through the normal, and sometimes extra, injuries of life, pain can come up again and again. Healing work in this context means that there is some difficulty we face in our lives, and that we seek support from our spiritual allies. 

Beth wisely supports you one-on-one before and after your home or abroad medicine journeys. She can frame what you’re going to do, and help you embody what happened, for the best possible impact. We will employ a variety of shamanic techniques for inducing an altered state, with the intention of calling in your body and your soul’s highest wisdom to come into balance.

*This work is not psychotherapy and is not a substitute for therapy, though it may complement it.

Beautifully, sometimes the gift of the medicine path is in learning this ancient and sacred way of praying with plants. Sometimes the prayer is an end in itself. It is natural as humans to seek connection with the web of life, to remind ourselves of our place in things. 

The medicine path offers this way to pray, and Beth can support you in this. In partnership, Beth celebrates practices, such as devotional songs, art, or walking in nature, appropriate for you. These ancient complements of the path plug us into and help us really embody that wisdom.

Generally, each 50-minute counseling session takes place over Zoom. We can also meet in person for walking sessions in Occidental, CA. If we need to sink into ritual space more deeply, we plan a longer session based on your needs.

Fee for each session is $200. Reduced fees and scholarships may be available. Please contact Beth to discuss.