Dr. Jennifer Holt's therapeutic approach is somewhat unusual, so it requires the willingness to try out a new way of working together. Rather than talk therapy, she utilizes four very powerful techniques: EMDR, NLP, reparenting, and forgiveness work (see below), that allow clients to let go of their stories instead of getting stuck inside of them. She has found the combination of these techniques to be astounding in terms of the quality and quickness of recovery for hundreds of clients. After having clients check in with 'what's up' in the first 10 mins or so of a session, she 'gets to work' with the techniques. She also uses a number of other techniques as well, including gestalt, creative visualization, forgiveness work, energy healing, and cognitive behavioral.

Message from Dr. Holt (click here).

1. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR, the most researched technique in the field of psychology, has gained a well-deserved reputation for working ‘magic’ with many stubborn client issues that appeared to be unresolvable, such as traumatic events, deep grief and loss, feelings of being ‘stuck’ and a host of psychological maladies. EMDR works by enabling the reprocessing of specific disturbing information across the right and left lobes of the brain and thereby creating healing. You can find out more about it at emdr.com. 

2. Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). NLP is often used in conjunction with brief therapy, because the results can be very rapid. With NLP, the client is given the opportunity to "reprogram" his/her core beliefs and long-standing but hidden "sentences" about life. For example, someone with an addiction may have been unconsciously operating from the assumption that the addiction is the only way they can feel comfort (this is their old 'sentence' or old 'programming'). By using NLP, the client is able to release this assumption and change the way of providing comfort for themselves with healthier choices.

3. Reparenting. Reparenting is a loving, deep and extremely effective way of healing past wounds from dysfunctional upbringing. Most of our parents made many mistakes, even though they may have been doing the best that they could. Unfortunately, the negative beliefs and images (from being punished, for example), have a way of staying inside our psyches indefinitely...unless, that is, we reparent ourselves. In reparenting, a healthy, loving adult self is created within the client, who then goes back into the past and provides love, support and protection for the younger self. As brain research proves, our brains will readily "write over" dysfunctional memories from the past with healthy, reprogrammed memories (see more about the quality of brain plasticity), so the healing is quite profound and often dramatic. Once the inner child is able to feel safe, the client's emotional response regarding the particular incident will be shifted permanently. In psychological terms what we are doing is providing attachment. As more and more memories are reparented, the feelings of well-being generalize and the client feels happier, more secure and at peace in their current life. 

4. Forgiveness Work. Forgiveness--being able to forgive our perpetrators and let go of the resentment and victimization of the past--is perhaps the 'crown' of the work Dr. Holt engages in with clients, and is not attempted until a great deal of healing has already taken place. But once the client is able to forgive, deep healing occurs. The resistance that was often eating the client alive is finally able to be put to rest. By 'paying it forward' -- choosing to heal and forgive those who have hurt us instead of waiting for them to take responsibility -- we create more peace and harmony for ourselves and others. Truly, to forgive is to move into what is considered as enlightenment mentality.

5. Visualizations. Dr. Holt uses visualizations and imagery to allow the client to operate in a deeper state of consciousness, and often spontaneous healing occurs. Clients are taught to create their own "safe place" which is used as a sacred place for healing, recreating experiences in a more positive way, and moving into work on a spiritual level, if desired.

6. Gestalt therapy. The gestalt process involves becoming aware of present moment experience, including somatic (body) knowledge and nonverbal information. Gestalt therapy also involves role plays, when a client needs to work through a challenging situation with another person. Dr. Holt begins by taking on the role of her client, to teach them a new ways of communicating. Then the client follows suit. This helps the client work through issues hypothetically, which often results in amazing shifts in the relationships. In other cases, the client is able to use this technique to practice an important dialogue prior to the actual event. Gestalt therapy employs such practices as the "empty chair technique," where the client imagines someone they need to confront is sitting in the chair in front of them, with Dr. Holt then coaching the client through the process. Gestalt therapy utilizes drama therapy, or acting out past difficult or traumatic experiences, then creating a new and healthier "ending" to the experience. This Gestalt therapy also involves role plays, when a client needs 

to work through a challenging situation with another person. Dr. Holt begins by taking on the role of her client, to teach them a new ways of communicating. Then the client follows suit. This helps the client work through issues hypothetically, which often results in amazing shifts in the relationships. In other cases, the client is able to use this technique to practice an important dialogue prior to the actual event.process is described in detail in Dr. Holt's book, Sacred Gateway of Grief and Loss: Freeing the Imprisoned Soul, which illustrates how Dr. Holt's techniques allow prisoners to heal.

7. Rogerian. Carl Rogers was a famous psychologist who believed that the most important ingredient in any successful therapy session was to hold an "unconditional regard" for the client. He believed that therapists should create a safe space for each client, through which every client could self-actualize and heal. Dr. Holt very much agrees with this. Like Rogers, she does not see the human spirit as innately 'bad,' permanently damaged or flawed, in other words, as pathological. That model, adhered to by many psychologists and psychiatrists, is not helpful for someone who needs hope and belief in themselves. Rather, Dr. Holt sees each clients as a beautiful and loving soul who is simply suffering due to past traumas and current unhealthy habits. And her success rate with clients, even those who feel they are 'incurable,' proves this truth. There is hope for all of us! 

8. Behaviorism. Behaviorism embraces the idea that in order to change old, unwanted behaviors or thoughts, we basically substitute new behaviors or thoughts. It sounds simple, but putting it into practice can be challenging. Given the difficulty of changing our old habits, Dr. Holt often gives "homework assignments" to clients, such as reading books, journaling, trying out new behaviors, or drawing, in order to continue the gains made from the therapeutic session. Interestingly, it seems once the 

human being has maintained a "new habit" for about two weeks, we are moreinclined to follow this new habit, rather than the old one. Dr. Holt also uses systematic measurement to enable the therapeutic process to be more precise. In the initial two sessions, clients measure the level of disturbance they have about particular issues in their lives, on a scale of 1 to 10. Periodically, and at the close of therapy, all of the issues are measured again. This is a powerful way of showing clients just how much they have progressed, because once we heal something, we tend to forget how disturbing it really was. Hundreds of times, Dr. Holt has heard clients say at the end of their work with her, "I completely forgot how much these issues were bothering me. They are totally gone now. I feel so, so much better--I am happy!" 

9. Existentialism. Existentialism maintains that we are basically living in an original state of meaninglessness, and the only way to make sense of our lives is to CREATE meaning, rather than trying to find it through some other outside force. It also embraces the idea that pain and anger and difficult emotions are not "bad" or "wrong" but valuable, and to be respected and embraced. Paradoxically, by embracing the pain or negative emotion, we are often able to move through it. For example, if someone has been abused as a child, from an existential perspective it makes no sense. To release it, first Dr. Holt works intensively with clients to heal the trauma and abuse memories. Then Dr. Holt guides clients in letting go of the old story, to stop trying to understand the meaning behind it by asking "why?" and to instead create a new approach to life with chosen values and beliefs, rather than living from the place of original victimization.

10. Couples. Dr. Holt also works with couples, using a number of additional techniques she has created, including Role Play Reversal, Sacred Witnessing, Namaste Dialogue, and Conflict Resolution TIPS to transform the couple's connection to each other. The most important work for a couple will be the ability to communicate honestly and to surrender to each other's deep heart. When there is a willingness to at least be open to considering this process, miracles often happen, no matter how entrenched the difficulties have been.

Commitment: Jennifer requires clients to commit to seeing her at least once weekly for the duration of therapy, because the techniques require habitual repetition to really work. To explain more fully: You will be going in and working through old disturbing memories and the resultant negative beliefs -- and the beautiful thing about the brain is that because of that inherent quality mentioned earlier called 'plasticity,' the brain will actually accept the new 'memories' as if they really happened, then incorporate the healthier beliefs and heal them forward into your current life. However, in order to keep the brain from dismissing the new beliefs, it works best to have sessions consistently, at least once a week. Dr. Holt uses a scale to measure and periodically check the issues/memories that are disturbing you, which enables the re-assessment your progress in a much more concrete way than with regular 'talk therapy.' She will want you to play a very active role in your improvement, and at times, will give homework toward that end.

"I so look forward to hearing from you! Toward deeper peace, Dr. Jennifer Holt"