East-West spiritual counseling & life coaching represents an essential feature of the institute's offerings, as this soul-centered approach to inner guidance, which integrates healing practices and principles from both Eastern and Western disciplines, provides participants with opportunities to engage in life-altering forms of deep introspection, enriching mindfulness practices, and the innovative and deeply healing effects of art and archetypal therapy. Emphasis is given to the following therapeutic aspects:
- identifying both primary personal challenges and key areas of potential growth as part
   of cultivating a deeper, more authentic sense of self-identity and inner wholeness.         
- tracing the trajectory of one's life through the application of Carl Jung's concept of               individuation and its direct association to healing and psycho-spiritual development. 
- applying the calming and restorative aspects of Buddhist mindfulness practices, which         foster inner peace and stillness and open space for the immense power of imagination. 
- engaging in Jungian creative visualization, such as active imagination, and Tibetan             tantric techniques, such as sacred image contemplation, as avenues to one's higher Self.
- cultivating an enhanced sense of life purpose and envisioning how one's unique talents
   and insights may be applied to the challenges of the modern world.
       A more detailed description of these transformative processes can be accessed in the following paragraphs and in the link to the text below. For inquiries and/or information regarding cost and payment options, please go to the Contact page of this site.
       Exploring and amplifying the prominent issues and circumstances of one's existence, especially as they relate to one's formative upbringing, gender and cultural identity, inter-
personal relationships, and the unique characteristics of one's life calling, allows these key aspects to be brought into greater clarity and resolution
through intimate exploration between the counselor and
client. Various forms of archetypal therapy also serve as a
bridge to these deeper dimensions of one's being, and the
creative and contemplative application of universal themes
and images, such as the Hero's & Heroine's Journey, arche-
types of the sacred, and other developmental scenarios and
symbols, act as signposts of profound inner guidance in relation to each person's journey through life. Through direct engagement with such psychic material in imaginal exercises, contemplative practices, dream analysis, and the process of amplification, the deeper aspects of one's life trajectory and purpose are brought into greater clarity. This approach includes working with highly evocative images found in nature and in artistic and mytho-logical expression as well as potent dream figures and scenarios that arise from one's inner world. This process thus provides channels through which the healing and revelatory power of archetypal themes and images can generate clarity and direction as part of a broader process of spiritual growth and transformation (see the link below for an in-depth description of the guiding principles, theoretical focus, and creative practices that are involved in this deeply therapeutic work). In their most essential form, such methodologies are guided by the awareness that genuine fulfillment, as well as the answers to life's most pressing questions, lie within each person's own inner core, and it is the role of the spiritual counselor to act as a guide and facilitator in helping to establish an enduring link between the client and his or her inner-most being. In each individual there exists a wellspring of deep-seated knowledge and wisdom, and accessing these interior dimensions activates far-reaching avenues of healing, insight, and inspiration that hold the potential for profound transformation and an entirely new and holistic awareness of life. Within this framework,
it is the client who ultimately possesses the innate understanding of, and answers to, the most fundamental issues of one's existence, and in this context the spiritual counselor serves as a guide in facilitating an awakening to this inherent self-knowledge through a variety of healing and transformative processes. 
      Founded on the therapeutic principles developed in the depth psychology of Carl Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz and others, and further expanding upon these precepts through the integration of mindfulness and meditation practices found in the Buddhist traditions
of Tibetan Tantra and Zen, East-West soul-centered
counseling utilizes archetypal imagery and sacred
motifs - as they arise in dreams and in the cultural
expressions of humanity - to induce an abiding sense
of deep spiritual resonance. Such images include the
archetype of the Golden Temple (represented here by
Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan), which is widely dispersed
in human cultural manifestation and symbolizes both
the divine source of existence and the earthly container in which this eternal force finds expression (see also the extensive collection of archetypes on the home page of this site). Within these numinous images and figures lie clues to the nature of one's personal journey and life purpose as well as vital links to universal characteristics that tie each individual
to the family of humanity in an unfolding process of personal and collective awakening.
Each human being is thus understood as a spark of divinity that emerges from a universal matrix, and through engaging the archetypal symbolism and motifs that mirror the psychic processes of the interior world of the Sacred, these sparks of divinity expand into more complete and meaningful manifestations of their inherent potential. From within these therapeutic frameworks and processes, a deeper, more authentic identity arises, and this flowering, this emergence of the Inner Diamond that exists as both the source and potential 
of every human life, brings forth the joyous and ever-expanding sense of wholeness that lies at the very heart of East-West soul-centered counseling. A more detailed description of these highly transformational processes and methodologies can be accessed in the link to the text below, and see also the published works "Active Imagination in Psychotherapy" and "The Primordial Mandalas of East and West: Jungian and Tibetan Buddhist Approaches to Healing and Transformation" in the Research Articles section of this website. For inquiries and information about cost and payment options, please go to the Contact page of this site. 

                                 The Essential Tenets of East-West Spiritual Counseling:
                 Its Guiding Principles, Theoretical Foundations, and Creative Techniques