DAVID BRYEN, MA

How I approach counseling

Problems with money, sex, conflict, dependency, betrayal, depression, anxiety, addictions, or infidelity have a common root-the breakdown of honesty within the individual, or a breakdown between partners. We have not been taught how to live from our center but to mask the depth of our being. Ultimately, our fear drives a wedge that breaks the connection between self and/or others. We either attack others when we are swept over by emotion, become overly compliant, or withdraw in fear or shame. Most people know that the reason they get into emotional difficulty is because they have not been honest with themselves or their partner.  
"David: Thank you for your help in a time when I was much adrift, and often caught in a storm. These days my life is still and I move with ease in my choices.  Feels like the home I have inhabited before." GGB

Depression does not have to be a diagnosis; it can be understood as initiation. Infidelity does not have to mean termination of a relationship; it most often is a desperate cry for help. Rage in conflict is misdirected defense to protection the core of our being. Anxiety does not need to be avoided, it can be the clue to our next step into something new. Boredom, malaise, and lack of meaning represent the soul's longing to burst out of the narrow confines of our lives.

Whether the emotional symptoms show up inside the individual, inside the relationship or between self and the world, I provide a safe place where the disturbances can be fully examined. I help identify deeper feelings, understand why they got left behind, give those feelings a voice, and teach how to live from the potent place of their own center.

Whether it is relating to one' self, to a partner, or to the spiritual dimensions of the soul, relationship is the key. I know how to make these relationships work. I understand the developmental struggle in every human being and the longing for that goodness to show.

Once people have straightened loose ends of their personality, and developed the skills for ordinary living, I engage the central question of the deeper meaning of life. I recognize a person must grow in the vital existential and spiritual dimension if he or she is to continue to be healthy and happy. 		  "I've been studying yoga for 16 years, been in satsang with teachers from all over the country and completed my study of Transpersonal Counseling/Art Therapy 14 years ago. Working with David brought all of these streams together, and has completely rounded out my experience through his teaching of the Stillpoint, his perspective on shame in the evolution of consciousness, and his deep understanding of the mystical life." SJM