KERRI HOMERICK, M.A.
Jungian Mind-Body-Soul Practitioner, PhD Researcher, & Educator
Remembering worlds both inner and outer as alive and in conversation with us ...
WELCOME
"In the universe, there are things that are known and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors."
-William Blake
Jungian Mind-Body-Soul
Consulting, Wellness Services, and Education
Depth-based explorations of the interrelationship between psyche, soma, and myth.
"Physical sensations and body memories are also stories which can be read and rendered into consciousness"
~Clarissa Pinkola Estés
"The human psyche lives in indissoluble union with the body."
~Jung, CW 8, para. 232
Psyche
Derives from the ancient Greek "soul."
"The totality of all psychic processes, conscious as well as unconscious" (Jung, CW 6, para. 797).
"The form into which all experience is poured" (Jung, CW 9i, para. 187).
"'At bottom', the psyche is simply 'world'" (Jung, CW 9i, para. 291).
Soma
How we sense and experience the dynamic unfolding of life from within.
The living body as sentient nature and boundless awareness.
Myth
Personifies archetypal or universal patterns--the great mysteries of life, the existential questions of human experience that cannot be translated by logic but resonate deeply with our soul. Myth illustrates the archetypal innermost workings of the psyche.
What is Jungian Depth Psychology?
Depth Psychology is a multidisciplinary approach to the psyche grounded in Jungian theory that invites curious exploration of and engagement with unconscious processes. Myths are the cornerstone of Depth psychology. They give us access to the psyche. They give form and color to the repeating and universal patterns of life, the pervasive blueprints that shape and mold what it means to exist. With a mythic perspective, Depth Psychology seeks to bridge the divide between inner and outer beckoning us into relationship with that which seems other, foreign, curious, alien, separate in its myriad forms. This might manifest via a feeling, bodily symptom, highly charged reaction, dream, fantasy, image, or synchronicity, which is then amplified through archetypal symbols. By remembering the “other” as a teacher, one can learn to navigate challenging experiences, often catalyzing a process of psycho-spiritual transformation. Healing is associated with allowing what has been repressed, rejected, denied or ignored to come forward so that one can understand, explore its significance and integrate it, allowing for greater conscious awareness.
Depth psychology returns us to the ancient understanding of psychology: Psykhē (soul), lógos (knowledge). The knowledge of the soul.
What is Somatics?
Somatics, a term coined by Thomas Hanna in 1976, is a field of movement study and embodied practices stemming from the Greek root "soma" wherein the body is experienced as a self-sensing subject as opposed to an image or object. Somatics honors the mind-body relationship and recognizes that unprocessed emotions, trauma, and physical tension can become stuck in the body leading to various forms of physical and emotional discomfort and disconnection. It emphasizes, with awareness, fully inhabiting one's body to build deeper connections with sensations, emotions, breath, proprioception, interception, and thoughts. Various forms of somatic practices can fall under the wider umbrella of Somatics including yoga, bodywork, stretching, pilates, bioenergetics, mindfulness and breathwork, touchwork, developmental movement facilitation, posture alignment, and embodied dance, to name a few. Bringing awareness and expression to tension and holding patterns in the body through somatic practices helps to release stored traumas, sensations, and emotions, and reorient maladaptive holding to a more harmonious mind-body state.
Somatic practices offer effective stress and anxiety reduction techniques, can aid in trauma resolution, pain management, and emotional regulation.
Besides the myriad benefits of regulating our nervous system, on another level, a Jungian-Somatic methodology offers a unique avenue for the ongoing process of self-realization that Jung coined as individuation.
“Individuation means becoming an ‘in-dividual,’ and, insofar as ‘individuality’ embraces our innermost, last, and incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one's own self” (Jung, CW 7, para. 173).
My Approach
My orientation is colored by aspects of various psychologies including Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Process Oriented Psychology (Processwork), and Somatic Psychology, Somatic Healing and Meditation certifications, Hatha Yoga, Art, Myth, Nature, Astrology, and a love for my own inner work. I have formal academic training in Depth Psychology with a specialization in Jungian and Archetypal studies and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California.
My objective is to support you in trusting the parts of yourself that know the way. Healing is active and process-oriented and unfolds through becoming receptive and responsive to whatever and however the psyche is expressing in a particular moment. I strive to approach this work in a way that acknowledges all dimensions of your Nature--inner and outer, mind/body/soul, joy and pain, conscious and unconscious, and to recognize that, at the deepest level, these things belong to one another. I believe in the body's intelligence and adhere to the understanding that the psyche and the body are "two sides of the same coin" (Jung, CW 8, para. 619). Maintaining an eco-centered perspective reminds us that we, too, are Nature and in an interdependent relationship with the rest of the world. In this way, your inner work is not just affecting you but has consequences that stretch beyond your subjective experience. Challenges, when approached with curiosity, offer the potential to wake us up to the deepest and most inviolable aspects of ourselves, and to reengage us back into reciprocal relationship with the world(s) in and around us.
All that's required is curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to show up for yourself.
