‘I want to seek the cause in me rather than in others, so that I become free to love and live. I will take the apparent risk to do this, and thus establish self-respect, courage, honesty, strength, and positive energy patterns.’ – The Pathwork
Welcome to the FiVE STAR HUMAN website. Thank you for being here.
I offer Intuitive Psychotherapy and Practical Homeopathy. I teach people how to heal their pain and discover the courage to be themselves, their True Selves.
A Bit About Me
I am an authentic human being, one like you, who has been confused and lost, suffered and struggled, and taken steps forward and back; but that I found a way out of the maze, a way that I now share.
The greatest gift of all is to know who you are — who we are.
Who you really are is not any of the roles you play. One aspect that I regularly teach in therapy sessions is how to differentiate between the false self and the true self. This allows you to discover your own insights and to connect to your true center, with the power to transform any situation, any feeling, in any moment.
It was a long journey for me to discover and really LIVE this, and now my passion is to help drastically shorten the trip for others.
I am a psychotherapist, but I primarily consider myself to be a teacher and guide, sharing how to use these minds, emotions, and bodies we all have.
It’s like we were each given a Lamborghini at birth, but were never taught how to drive or maintain it. So we go through life grinding through the gears, stalling out, and never maximizing the potential of this incredible vehicle.
Many people never come to realize that there are unlimited levels of mental clarity and well being, and that any emotion, no matter how seemingly negative, can be transformed, and ultimately is only guidance for you.
I certainly struggled and suffered plenty myself (though not as much as some, and possibly more than others). But, believe it or not, the stumbling and suffering can be a great gift. We can get so sick of suffering that we reach out and ask, ‘Isn’t there a better way?’…
And yes, there is a better way.
“When we know better, we do better.” -Maya Angelou
The amazing thing is that the often in the darkest hour we start to wake up to ourselves. At one of my lowest points, I glimpsed myself, for a moment, from the outside — I became aware of TWO selves — the one suffering and the one who was always fine, just watching, no matter what.
This was the beginning of my LIFE, as I see it now. It only took me about 35 years to get there! No matter what age you are, NOW is the time for you.
I had always been a seeker, but after that experience it intensified immensely. I read hundreds of books, I watched hundreds of hours of videos, I did deep inner work on my own, as best I could. (See the Resources for Self-Help page for some recommendations to help you get started.)
I transformed my life and the relationship with my husband. We had been married for about 20 years and were on the brink of falling apart.
He tells people now how I did the work on my own, and eventually he saw how my life and our relationship were improving so much that he said, ‘I want some of that’.
The Primary Influences for My Work
In addition to the years of intensive seeking, I completed an extremely intensive year of training and deep personal therapy called The Mind Energy-Body School of Trauma Transformation in Boulder, CO.
This took my growth to a whole new level and crystallized my prior explorations. It deepened my understanding from a primarily mental experience to being able to truly transform feelings and emotions, and to purposefully connect to the source of what we all are. It’s hard to explain in words, but this is the most practical skill we can all learn: How to return to wholeness no matter what is going on in our experience.
Maybe you can imagine discovering what is YOU and what is not you, and envision learning how to transform any feeling back to wholeness. This is not ‘controlling’ thought or managing feelings. This is removing the blocks that obscure the innate clarity and light that we truly are.
“And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud, was more painful than the risk to bloom.” –Anais Nin
Other influences and training that I integrate into my unique style of therapy: I admire The Three Principles and their no-method way of explaining and sharing the understanding of the nature of Mind, Consciousness and Thought. I have completed their professional trainings. I also completed A Course in Miracles and all of The Pathwork material.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an integral therapeutic technique for getting past old pain and emotional triggers and trauma (whether in conscious awareness or not), without ‘drama’ and retraumatizing. It’s not the optimal tool for everyone, but for certain types of traumas it can be transformative.
Courses with Pat Odgen in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy also significantly contributed to my learning. This body-centered psychotherapy can be especially helpful for people who are numbed or frozen, or have been dealing with the effects of acute or chronic trauma.
The study of Characterological Transformation- aka the Five Personality Patterns– has been extremely helpful in understanding the different coping styles we each develop at young ages, and how to heal and ‘grow up’ the parts of us that often remain stuck in a time when we didn’t have the resources that we needed to cope effectively with what life threw at us. Discover your ‘Stress Personality’ so you no longer have to be victim to it.
I also studied human bonding and Attachment Theory, which is helpful in understanding our patterns in relationship to others– such as why we may shut down, or get clingy and anxious, or why are partners may check out or come down so hard on us.
Study of the Polyvagal Theory and neurobiology helps me to work with pattens that are engrained in the physical body, especially in re-patterning the nervous system.
I also studied Barbara Brennan’s work and did an in-person training with one of her instructors in energy healing.
In addition, I have a degree in Exercise Science Technology and spent almost 10 years running an intensive school in Hawaii that trained people to be Personal Trainers and Group Exercise Instructors. I taught classes and also worked with private clients for many years. This background in working with the physical provides a helpful foundation for the mental, emotional, and spiritual work that is now my focus.
Kundalini Yoga is one of the foundations of my own personal daily practice and I often draw from it, offering specific tools to my clients to help them. For instance, 3 minutes of the ‘Addiction Meditation’ can lead to amazing and unexpected results. Also, a common struggle suffering people come up against is a lack of energy. It takes energy to move to a new ‘place’ mentally and emotionally. Again, Kundalini offers easy and effective techniques to balance the brain and nervous system, to increase energy in all the systems, and to help clean out the negative subconscious programs we all are running.
My daily practice of Kriya Yoga and Mediation is integral to maintaining and evolving my state-of being, and I often encourage clients to find their own form of daily practice to ‘reset back to themselves’ as a discipline.
And now I am integrating homeopathy, as appropriate and as desired, for those who need even more effective and healing. I am a Practical Homeopath, graduated form the Academy of Practical Homeopathy and have dedicated homeopathy practice as well.
Oh, and I should add that I have honed an intuitive ability to track emotions and consciousness (which we all can do with training and practice). This helps me to guide clients, to cut through the clouds (so to speak), and makes our time together much more efficient.
My method doesn’t rely on you telling me your whole life history. We just start with what is here right now. What is present now is linked to whatever needs healing, and we follow it, like a golden thread that leads you back to your true home in yourself.
All of my training, all of my continuing study, and all of my deep inner work contribute to my own style of therapy that clients say is like no other.
In Summary
I have been with my husband now for 30 years. We don’t have kids, though I have a brother who is 10 years younger than I who I was involved with raising. I adore animals.
I am not religious, though I understand why people are. Whether you are an atheist, agnostic, or devout follower of a religion, the work I share and teach is not dependent on, and doesn’t conflict with, any belief system.
I went to a big, public, mixed-race high school, and was literally friends with every group at some point as I tried to find my way through the rough teenage years. I struggled through my adolescence and I have first-hand experience with eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and other challenging experiences that are common among adolescents– and adults.
I also lived and traveled in Latin America for six years and developed a deep understanding of how the culture we are raised in affects us. Yes, I speak Spanish, but probably not quite fluently enough to do therapy sessions entirely in Español. 🙂
I can’t claim to be perfect (beware anyone who does!), but I no longer suffer. I no longer struggle with anxiety. In fact I now live in a relatively constant state of clarity, connectedness and centeredness, and from that extends compassion and caring for others, as well a deep understanding for what others are going through.
This is not like any therapy you’ve probably ever done. And you might be surprised what just a few sessions can do. This is healing therapy, and it leads to lasting transformation. This is the evolution of human consciousness. It’s what we all are longing for, and searching for, and creates a world we dream of living in.
Even the light from one little match can light up a pitch dark room. Our job, the responsibility that is each of ours, is to reach for higher levels of conscious and understanding, and to become the light for ourselves, and eventually for others.
I am proof that it is possible to truly heal. I am not higher or better than you. And I’m sure you know about many things that I don’t.
In this area, though, I know the way. This is my specialty, my purpose, my passion. I was born to do this, to help you — not just to gain knowledge– but to help you to have an experience of the greater you, which then connects you to the innate wisdom that will guide you forevermore, and which can never be taken away from you. This is the most important work you can do, for yourself, and for the world.
This is the path to Self Mastery.
I KNOW you can not only heal, but that you can gain access to your innate wisdom, clarity of mind, and loving heart, which will then guide you forward fearlessly, forevermore.
Emily Marshall – Colorado Psychotherapist #NLC.0110632
Click here to contact me now.
Click here to learn more about Getting Started with Therapy.
‘Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than fear, everything shifts.’- Bessel Van Der Kolk
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