INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS
YOUR LONGING IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT
Acceptance + Authenticity + Belonging + Intimacy + Support
We are all born and live with these (and more) universal human needs. They are essential to our experience of love, peace, and joy, and are the most unifying human truth.
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We come to community to nurture and fulfill these needs and our vision for a more peaceful, cooperative world where everyone's needs matter.
SUPREMACY CULTURE HAS LED US ASTRAY
Unfortunately, the shame-based supremacy culture (informed by white, cit-het, colonial patriarchy) that our society, communities, families, and selves have been steeped in doesn’t nurture very nurturing beliefs and strategies.
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To name just a few...
To get my needs met, I must compete with or over-accommodate the needs and desires of others.
I must prove my self-worth by living up to other's expectations before I can be fully loved and accepted.
Some or all of my needs don't matter, aren't important, or aren't okay for me to want or have.
Showing vulnerability or asking for help is a sign of weakness and neediness.
Others are suppose to know what I want, when I want it — and if they don't, then they don't see or care about me.
I am always just one step away from failure and rejection, so I must strive for perfection or not try at all.
You know this isn't working.
We must leave behind the shame-based, punitive tactics
— controlling, withdrawing, defending, attacking, rescuing —
and invest in nonviolent, empowering strategies that build our collective power, love, and resilience through authentic, compassionate, and liberatory relationships with ourselves and our communities.
LET'S CULTIVATE A COOPERATIVE CULTURE OF CARE, INSIDE & OUT
Show up in your relationships with both courageous honesty and genuine kindness, without compromising your truth or your heart.
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Find more peace and patience with people or experiences that disturb or upset you with authentic curiosity, compassion, and boundaries.
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Learn and grow by integrating feedback without becoming overwhelmed or lost in spirals of shame or blame.
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Liberate your unique expression and contribution by trusting you are already whole, more than enough, and completely lovable as you are.
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Be your own best friend and prioritize your experience of love, peace, and joy without feeling guilty or fraudulent.
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Embody your values and help create the more beautiful world of genuine respect, generosity, and kindness your heart knows is possible.
WE ALL NEED SUPPORT
Help and healing comes in many forms — an inspiring story, an eye-opening conversation, a reliable friend, an insightful dream, a near-death experience, a ground-shaking conflict...
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As well as intentional participation and investment in a therapeutic relationship with someone who has the tools and your trust.
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I invite you to reach out to me if...
You are seeking a safe relationship for your whole self, including all the disjointed or hidden parts, to be seen and heard.
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You want guidance in discerning what your heart is asking for, what your body is needing, and how your mind can help.
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You are willing to practice the mindset and skills you need to show up in your full integrity for yourself and your relationships.
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You are ready to transform your beliefs and behaviors from limiting to liberating.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ME AND MY PRACTICE
I invite you to learn more about me, my expressive therapy approaches, and my framework for personal and cultural healing by checking out the following pages.
Additional information about my practice, including payment, expectations, and more, can be found on the FAQ page. Of course, please reach out if you have any additional questions!
RADICAL HEART
My framework is rooted in liberation psychologies, which locates psychological work within a paradigm of interdependence, recognizing that culture and psyche co-create each other; giving priority to what or who has become marginalized in psyche and society; and nurturing longings for just and peaceful communities as acts of faith in the future.
EXPRESSIVE THERAPY
Expressive therapies, like drama, art, movement, music, and more, brings the whole self—mind, heart, body, and spirit—into the dialogue, drawing upon deeper wisdom and insight than the cognitive mind has alone. By bypassing the critical, logical mind and utilizing the power of imagination, we can elicit, embody, practice, and make-real new possibilities for relating to ourself and to one another.
TERI LYNN GRUNTHANER
I've been on the journey of developing experiential therapeutic approaches, critical consciousness, and community organizing skills for over a decade. In 2017, I graduated with an MA in Drama Therapy and am on my way to becoming a Registered Drama Therapist. I live in a co-housing community in Lawrence, KS.
For the record, Teri is not a licensed mental health clinician, and her services are not a substitute for medical care. To learn more about her credentials to offer Expressive Therapy, please visit the page about Teri Grunthaner.