Jamie Kohanyi, LMFT

My name is Jamie Kohanyi and I primarily approach psychotherapy from a Jungian or depth perspective. I am also a graduate of Pacifica Graduate Institute’s Counseling Psychology program with an emphasis in Depth Psychotherapy. I am also currently also pursuing a certificate in Jungian Psychology from the CG Jung Institute of Los Angeles. From a depth orientation, symptoms like anxiety or depression, addictions, or compulsive behaviors are expressing an unmet want or need that is often buried in the psyche. These unconscious longings reveal themselves in our dreams and images (including those from psychedelic journeys), but also through the unwanted symptoms that bring us to see a counselor. Part of the task of therapy is uncovering these hidden longings and discovering less destructive ways to meet these subconscious desires and become more whole. Many significant events in people's lives that lead to upsetting symptoms happened before they had words or were so distressing, they couldn't be captured in language. Most of the people I work with realize they have been expressing themselves through eating disorders, addictions, and compulsive behaviors until therapy gave them a new way to talk about, tolerate, or transform their experience. With these limitations of language in mind, I often incorporate the visual or performing arts in therapy. There is often a habitual or deeply engrained element to our unwanted behaviors and many people can't imagine themselves without their symptoms as much as they would like to see themselves healed. Psychedelics in the context of therapy appear to offer a poignant ritual experience that can transform these "stuck" patterns.