{"id":475,"date":"2013-11-29T15:20:43","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T15:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/demo.studiopress.com\/outreach-pro\/?page_id=475"},"modified":"2022-01-25T04:05:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T04:05:27","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/?page_id=475","title":{"rendered":"About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nI approach therapy in a highly organic, intuitive way, and have spent many years training my intuitive senses to be able to pick up on things that might otherwise be missed. I tend to be somewhat informal in my practice, operating mostly from a client-centered<\/a> perspective, utilizing mindfulness as my primary foundation. And I tend to be more interactive, not just sitting and nodding my head but actively engaging you in helping figure out the way through your difficult places and out the other side to greater fulfillment and happiness.<\/p>\n

Theoretically I\u2019m eclectic, borrowing from various therapy influences; in addition to mindfulness, I use somatic (mind-body) techniques, emotionally-focused therapy for couples (EFT<\/a>), empathic self psychology<\/a>, spirituality (when appropriate), systems theory<\/a> and even neuropsychology<\/a>. My basic philosophy is, \u201cWhatever Works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, I have an incredibly diverse personal history, having lived and worked all over the world with a wide variety of peoples and cultures, and having undertaken a wide variety of personal explorations, including:<\/p>\n

Professional Dancer
\nVeterinary Technician
\nCaterer
\nDatabase Design and IT
\nGraphic and Web Designer
\nWaiter and Bartender
\nInternational Human Rights Activist
\nCaretaker at a Spiritual Sanctuary
\nConstruction
\nScuba Diver<\/p>\n

I feel that this rich personal history gives me the ability to connect with pretty much anyone, and to have a sense of what it is that they\u2019re going through, if for no other reason than that I probably have gone through something similar myself! I\u2019ve been told that I show an unusual ability to just accept another\u2019s reality as it is, and to join them there, and it is my hope that this gives me the ability to truly \u201cget\u201d someone else at a level that is not often found.<\/p>\n

Certifications & Trainings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hakomi Professional Skills Training Graduate
\nApril 2009
\nHakomi Responding to Life Training Graduate
\nDecember 2009
\nHakomi Recreation of the Self Graduate
\nApril 2013
\nHakomi Institute of California<\/a>
\nEmotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
\nFour day externship, June 2013
\nCore Skills Completion November 2015<\/p>\n

Associations<\/strong><\/p>\n

President of the Board – GAYLESTA<\/a> (The LGBTQ Psychotherapy Association)
\nFounding Member – Open Minds<\/a> (Psychotherapists Affirming Sexual & Gender Diversity)
\nWPATH<\/a> (World Professional Association for Transgender Health)
\nCAMFT<\/a> (California Association for Marriage and Family Therapy)
\nICEEFT<\/a>\u00a0and NCCEFT<\/a> (International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and the local Northern California chapter)<\/p>\n

Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

M.A. Clinical Psychology
\nMulticultural Social\/Clinical Program
\nNew College of California
\nSan Francisco, CA, 1997<\/p>\n

B.A. Zoology
\nB.A. Art
\nUniversity of Texas
\nAustin, TX, 1986<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I approach therapy in a highly organic, intuitive way, and have spent many years training my intuitive senses to be able to pick up on things that might otherwise be missed. I tend to be somewhat informal in my practice, operating mostly from a client-centered perspective, utilizing mindfulness as my primary foundation. And I tend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":764,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/475\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mylesdownes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}