Tom Swafford
Tom Swafford
Credentials: MA
Practice: Ajuna Healing
Phone: (971) 757-6011
E-mail: tom@ajunahealing.com
Location: 4314 N Mississippi Ave Portland, OR 97217
Website: https://www.ajunahealing.com/
Insurance Accepted: No
Fees: $90
Specializing In—
LGBTQ, HIV Counseling, Depression, Anxiety, Coming Out, Transitions, Identity, Sexuality, Codependency, Relationship Conflict, Divorce
About
I received my master’s in counseling from Pacifica Graduate Institute, an Institute that focuses on counseling with depth psychology. Depth psychology delves into many aspects of life, both conscious and unconscious, looking at fears, aspirations, and desires for transformation. I was initially drawn to Pacifica Graduate Institute by their motto 'Animae Mundi Colendae Gratia' which means 'Tending to the Soul of and in the World.
My belief is that we enter life with an inherent idea of who we are and what we want to accomplish, whether we are conscious of that or not. As we strive for acceptance, we cover ourselves in layers of defensive structure, related to beliefs and expectations of others, until we are overburdened, eventually losing our ‘selves’ in the process.
My desire is to help you strip away these layers to discover who you are at your core. We do this together by using feedback, intuitive healing, trauma informed therapy, dream work and active imagination. I do this by sitting with you, listening to your stories of pain, frustration, unmet needs and desires. I will not strip away your layers, leaving you naked and vulnerable but rather, this process begins by exchanging heavier emotional layers with lighter ones until ultimately even those are unnecessary. This process finally enables you to stand in your original brilliance.
I have worked with individuals of all ages at the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) and at the League of Gay Gentlemen, as well as facilitating career coaching and counseling, during my time as a human resource/business operations manager.
My approach is influenced by the work of Carl Jung. He felt there was a spiritual component to our psychological problems and that resides with our psyches. The word psyche itself translates to soul or spirit. The term therapy, from the Greek, therapae, means to tend or care for. When combined you get the term psychotherapy; to tend to the soul. A lot of this work with individual psyche happens in the unconscious mind which will work in image and metaphor to assist in uncovering the pain or suffering that is at our very core.