Lisa Dunlop, LMFT

A Return to Meaning We have been disconnected from ourselves, our communities, and the natural world we reside in. It has been my observation that people who struggle with anxiety, depression, and trauma have an inconvenient knowing about what is broken in ourselves, our communities, and our world. Extra suffering comes when we try to deny the healing and wisdom that is trying to emerge. When we deny what is trying to surface, often to fit in with our current dying paradigm, then we will most certainly suffer more. The path of Netflix, addiction, social media, donuts, and other fabulous distractions provide only brief moments of satisfaction, often followed by despair. Healing from wounding and old systems, and the resulting change, is not always easy, but it is certainly rich, full and satisfying. It's worth the price of admission. What I offer is for people who are longing for compassion, depth, meaning, and connection in a seemingly cold Universe. Early trauma and loss initiated me onto the path of trying to understand why I and other human beings suffer and how we can heal. My quest has taken me deep into forests and deserts: to live in a Zen temple in Asia for years; to serve the dying at the Zen Hospice Project; to study holistic counseling psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies; to the Orphan Wisdom School to learn about ancestry, community, life, and death; and more recently to various teachers to learn about cosmology, alignment and energy healing. I have discovered along the way that the best healings turn you back toward yourself and then your community. The worst try to take your power and free will though charisma and formality. To be awake in the mystery of life, with all its joys and sorrows, has been my heart path. Now my hair is greying, and I find myself deeply committed to supporting others to heal from the idea that something is wrong with them, to realize and integrate their life path, to honor life and learning, and to cultivating presence and wisdom. When I am not working with clients, I am walking my long-haired German shepherd, Ziev, on a nearby coastal trail, meditating, cooking for my friends and family, studying history and cosmology, attempting to garden in the wild of my backyard, and crocheting into the night with a good audiobook or TV series.