Therapy with Soul in Mind
415-902-1304
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You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.  -- Friedrich Nietzsche 

About me

I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), with a Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) from the University of London, a Masters in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Expressive Arts (MA) from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and a Doctorate in Depth Psychotherapy (PhD) from Pacifica Graduate Institute. My dissertation was on the experience of wonder as an epiphany, or voice, of soul. Having completed a rigorous training in the Bonny Method, I also am a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery (FAMI), and hold certificates in Integrative Medicine and Spirituality from the Institute for Health and Healing.

I grew up in London, England, moved to the United States in 1975 and have enjoyed living in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1980. My life has been full, varied, and marked by several interesting transitions. 

As a young adult, following graduation I traveled the world as a professional tennis player for 10 years before settling in the United States and entering the business world. For 22-years I enjoyed a successful and satisfying career in organizational, marketing and fundraising communications with a variety of companies, agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Before entering the field of psychotherapy, I ran my own 8-person communications company for six years. 

I began seeing patients in 2001, working with the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music. From 2004-2015, I saw an increasing number of chronically ill and life-threatened patients through the Integrative Medicine programs at California Pacific Medical Center and Marin General Hospital and also in my private practice. Imagery, music and the arts have been consistent allies in working with the unconscious in depth work.

You may have noticed that the color green plays a major role in this site. It reflects my devotion to the sacred depths of nature and my resonance with the term Veriditas, popularized by the German saint, mystic, writer, composer, philosopher, and visionary Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). The word depicts the principle of greenness or vitality in all of nature, and symbolizes the lushness, fresh growth, and fruitfulness in the fully alive person, in body, mind and spirit. I believe that this juicy essence of aliveness is a common human quest and that many patients, knowingly or unknowingly, enter therapy to discover or revive the sense of Veriditas in their lives. 

Classical music has been a passion of mine since childhood, and singing in choirs is a spiritual practice of sorts. John Rutter says it all: "You express, when you sing, your soul in song." I also feel a strong connection to animals, trees and plants, and am intrigued by mandalas, calligraphy, illuminated manuscripts, and microscopic images. And, I enjoy walking my pooch Jesse, British wit, reading, and puttering about.

Finally, from Mark Nepo's Breaking Surface:
Let no one keep you from your journey,
no rabbi or priest, no mother
who wants you to dig for treasures
she misplaced, no father
who won't let one life be enough,
no lover who measures their worth
by what you might give up,
no voice that tells you in the night
it can't be done.
 
Let nothing dissuade you
from seeing what you see
or feeling the winds that make you
want to dance alone
or go where no one
has yet to go.
 
You are the only explorer.
      



It doesn't interest me
what you do for a living. 
I want to know
what you ache for, 
and if you dare to dream
of meeting
your heart's longing.
--Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Picture

Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing

and right doing, 
there is a field. 
I’ll meet you there.
 
--Rumi

Picture

My dog does this amazing thing where she just exists
and makes my whole life better because of it.
--Anon

Picture
Gracie setting Lindsey straight


In the end there doesn't have to be anyone who understands you. There just has to be someone who wants to. --Robert Brault


WELCOME   •   PRACTICE   •   APPROACH   •   SPECIALTIES   •   RESOURCES   •   ABOUT ME   •   CONTACT
Lindsey Beaven, PhD, FAMI, MFT (Lic. #46826)  •  lbeaven4@gmail.com  •  415-902-1304  •  San Anselmo, CA  •  © 2015
Photos used under Creative Commons from waferboard, Kurosawa Michiyo