People often ask, “How do I use gestures?” This photo of the marvelous filmmaker, Andrew Silver, is my answer: “Any way that suits you!” In my work, I want my clients to be more free, more themselves, more unexpected in their presence.

Gestures, like walking, standing, and speaking, are behaviors that we never think about until the spotlight is upon us. Then, we forget how! Suddenly, our arms and hands become like loaves of bread, awkward appendages. And we can find ourselves repeating the same gesture again and again. We get stuck.

My job is to help my clients get back to that natural, spontaneous, organic way they use gesture all the time when not in the spotlight. Read on…

While studying at the Smith College School for Social Work, we were asked to face, own, and acknowledge the power dynamic inherent in any therapeutic relationship. No matter that we were young-ish, still-in-training therapists, the roles assigned, “therapist” and “client,” create an unequal power dynamic. No matter our age, race, gender, level of experience or education, in that particular relationship, we, the burgeoning therapist, are seen as the “expert.” We have the power, whether we know it or deserve it. At Smith, we were taught to become aware, acknowledge, and work to equalize this dynamic. Our goal was to shift the dynamic as much as possible so that our clients had power over their own treatment.

This week, we broaden our awareness of our own power and seek to find more balance by doing these three things…read on.