FOUNDER, CLINICAL SUPERVISOR, PSYCHOTHERAPIST

James Naicker, LCSW (she/her)

Therapy can be more than a set of techniques applied to support your change process; it can be change and being itself. For those who want to engage therapy as an “inner journey toward spiritual realization,” I approach therapy as spiritual practice. The work of Stephen and Ondrea Levine languages the spiritual practice I support my clients in as an “individuation of the heart, that opens one to qualities of life and levels of consciousness previously unknown.” A synchronization of body and mind occurs out of this individuation, this second birth— “there is another birth that comes after birth.” My life’s work is midwifing the unborn in the born.

Because I am a Feminist Experiential Depth psychotherapist, the “midwifery tools” I work with to facilitate this “coming into your own” are:

Somatic Experiencing (SE): a body-based trauma resolution model that transforms us from the inside out and bottom up. We work with the autonomic nervous system to heal unprocessed, stored trauma in the body so that way we are able to live unencumbered and able to engage with all of life’s experiences—pleasant and unpleasant—with presence. This is a highly experiential and relational model.

Internal Family Systems (IFS): an integrative trauma resolution model for healing attachment and interpersonal trauma by way of encouraging integration of the parts of self and connection to the Self. This modality operates from the understanding that the human personality is made up of vital subparts that when put into extreme roles due to distress and/or trauma, create symptoms (depression, anxiety, addiction, self-harm, perfectionism) that override the ability of Self (who we truly are) to oversee how we live and function. This, too, is an experiential and relational model.

Depth Psychology: a model that draws out our true selves and helps us materialize our hidden potential by exploring the unconscious and transpersonal parts of us through dream analysis, narrative, and archetypes. Through this practice of therapy, we look at the lesser-known and deeper parts of ourselves. This approach is non-pathologizing and strength-affirming.

Feminist Theory: this form of psychotherapy examines how society and culture play a role in what an individual is suffering from. It looks at how symptoms are the outcomes and survival strategies of biases and discrimination related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and their intersections. This form of therapy is depathologizing and strengths-based. Its therapeutic techniques are bibliotherapy, reframing, empathy, power analysis, advocacy, and assertiveness training.

Interpersonal Neurobiology: is a consilient theory and practical framework for how the brain, mind, and relationships interact to shape who a person is. Another way of describing this modality is relational neuroscience. We look at both how your genes and your environment inform your attachment system. We consider how your brain and mind develop and function through the interplay of your genes and your relational contexts.

My therapeutic style is gentle, warm, no-nonsense, direct, responsive, and invitational. At the heart of my work, I empower through education; therefore, you will experience my engagement, creativity, and playfulness through my use of metaphors, analogies, props, and references in media to explain theoretical and practical concepts.

I use a lot of myself in my practice—you will come to know me by fact and feeling. Because I center the therapeutic relationship, we will regularly discuss what is happening between us in the here and now. You will be invited to participate in actions that may initially feel awkward and silly, and generally, we will do these things together to mitigate self-consciousness and embarrassment. The body is privileged in my work, so you will be asked to connect to it often. Role-playing is also encouraged in session, as well as connecting to the imaginal realm. I provide bespoke homework with relative frequency.

I leave you with this final note. The poetic precept: “you can’t lead your clients where you haven’t gone or aren’t willing to go yourself,” is appreciated and often communicated by the practitioners who are devoted to their own ongoing intrapsychic work. More than that, I believe we can’t be with what our clients are holding if we, too, are unable to be with those internal experiences ourselves. The expansion of your capacity depends on the expansiveness of my container; therefore, we don’t get out of the psychophysiological reality that “the interpersonal becomes the intrapsychic.” We grow, we realize, and we shift in relationship. At its core, this is what it means when you hear and read the current findings of relational neuroscience that have transformed into the pop psychology stock phrase: “we are evolutionarily hardwired for connection.” My human need and drive for connection, as well as my relentless pursuit of growth and healing allows the cradle of love and appreciation that I am held in by my own therapist of almost 20 years to also be the crucible for my own alchemy. I deeply know by way of experience, that to be truly heard, seen, and understood—loved—in the context of therapy, is a healing that comes from being burned; it singes off our self-delusions, our defenses, and our misconceptions. lt is this intersubjective reality created by therapist and client that makes the therapeutic relationship both the container for transformation and the agent of transformation itself.

James holds a Master of Social Work degree from the New York University Silver School of Social Work and is undergoing training with the Somatic Experiencing Professional Training program. She specializes in trauma resolution and Complex PTSD; attachment wounds and relationship struggles; recovery from narcissistic abuse; gender and sexuality; identity and spiritual exploration; grief; and coming into one’s own.

License #094576