What is my approach?

Human beings tend to engage with life from the perspective of being a limited separate self. When this perspective is our only way of being, the natural consequence is that we seem to be absolutely defined by our identity and the life circumstances we find ourselves in. We believe ourselves to be a limited being existing in a limited world. There is of course the possibility that the circumstances of our life are quite pleasant and we experience a great deal of meaning, pleasure and happiness. Very commonly, however, the belief of exclusively being a limited, separate entity has the consequence of causing us psychological suffering in all its various forms (a strong sense of incompleteness, feelings of meaninglessness, neurotic fears, excessive hate, etc.).

So what can be done to remedy this condition of suffering? The solution is to discover the inherent freedom of Awareness. Awareness has many different names across the various spiritual traditions all over the world: Being, Emptiness, Awakeness, Openness, the Self, Buddha-Nature. But no matter the name, this Awareness is not some kind of magical state which is incredibly hard to access. I’m simply referring to the Awake Being which you already are and as which you already experience everything. Fascinatingly, this Awareness is fully available and wide open for discovery, but through our habitual, limiting fixations we can seem to overlook it. Since you already have complete and unrestricted access to this Awareness, it really is only a matter of noticing what’s already and unconditionally true about it. You come to discover that this Awareness is always whole and inseparable from life itself. You realize that the simplicity of resting in Being is the experience of unconditional fulfillment. Familiarzing with this non-state more and more deeply has a profound effect on the peace, meaning, beauty and joy you will tend to experience in your life. It’s crucial to note that you don’t need to and more importantly shouldn’t take these claims on faith. The great news is that you are without a doubt qualified to realize this for yourself.

Importantly, this discovery does not neglect or deny your humanity. On the contrary, it is a tremendous enhancement of what we consider our human life. Once we are familiar with the simplicity and completenss of Awareness, the possibility of embodying this realization in all facets of life becomes available. Gradually and sometimes suddenly the previously held neurotic beliefs and behavioural tendencies of being a limited self are released and a much more dynamic and wise participation with the world becomes possible. Psychological hang-ups and conventional life-challenges certainly won’t magically disappear, but there now is a profoundly different possibility of engaging with them and resolving them.

If discovering this astounding shift in your way of being sounds compelling to you, then I’d love to help you along this path! In general I place high value on meeting you where you are. There are no requirements for me to work with you. Your emotional state, your intellectual understanding or your spiritual realizations are not fundamentally important. The only thing that is needed is your genuine interest in wanting to discover a radically different way of being.

The space I create in our meetings is a safe, light and often humorous one. I will not push you in any direction that is psychologically destabilizing for you. Respecting your own integrity, wisdom and well-being is essential to me.

What is my background?

I’m a psychologist, formerly working in the fields of clinical psychology and neuropsychology and currently working in psychological assessment. My background and experience in psychology and psychotherapy continune to inform my overall approach. 

I’ve been fascinated by meditation, contemplative practices, the nature of being and consciousness throughout my life. I was raised as a Christian, but left the religion as a teenager. Soon after I started a regular meditation practice, mainly in a Buddhist context. I had the good fortune of being introduced to the possibility of recognizhing non-dual awareness on in my practice. The possibility of directly realizing unconditional fulfillment left a profound impact on me. Ever since then the various traditions and approaches across the world which explore the realization of non-duality have been of special interest to me. The traditions of Dzogchen, Chan, Advaita Vedanta and Christian Mysticism specifically have been strong influences over the years. However, my own style of sharing does not follow a particular tradition and I don’t strictly adhere to the methods and terminology of any system. Rather, I employ a dynamic and pragmatic style of sharing which arises directly out of the non-dual realization and naturally incoporates the methods and insights of various traditional and contemporary approaches.