Greetings!
My name is Meera Riitta Ojala. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor. I practice Integrative Psychotherapy. I can help you connect with yourself and transform your life on many levels; physical, emotional, cognitive, energetic, and spiritual. We are all fascinating multidimensional beings and I am passionate about helping you remove the roadblocks in your life.
With over 20 years of experience working with people from different backgrounds and with a wide array of issues ( anxiety, depression, relational problems, addictions, self-esteem problems, stress, grief and loss), I know how beneficial it is to have someone who is there just for you; to listen, guide, and to support you through a difficult time. My work is informed by inspiring teachers, healers, and therapists, as well as my own healing journey.
As a Somatic Psychotherapist I utilize breath and sensory awareness as a way to help you listen to your body’s messages and memories. The body’s wisdom is amazing! Working with the mind-body connection, and different mindfulness practices I help you to move from pain rooted in the past to healthy wellbeing and balance in the present. Working with the breath can be a powerful way to connect to the emotions, calm the nervous system, cultivate awareness and aliveness, and provide fuel for change.
Through the Expressive Arts I help you connect with your mind, body, and spirit in a different way than through verbal communication. Using artistic processes (movement, dance, art, writing) can help you to deepen your relationship with yourself, your feelings and your beliefs. One example of this is free-associative journaling, which can be a wonderful way to reflect, and release your feelings. Engaging in expressive arts therapy practices can deepen your relationship to yourself, boost self-esteem, improve mood and increase a sense wellbeing and aliveness.
I use Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), an evidence-based form of talk therapy helps people find healthier coping strategies for stress, improve relationships, and live more fully grounded in the present. It can be effective in challenging and changing the negative thought patterns and belief systems, which leads to improvements in the overall quality of life.
I use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) when appropriate, as a way to support healing and releasing past emotionally charged experiences and/or negative beliefs and emotional blocks that create imbalance. EMDR uses set of procedures like bilateral eye movements or alternating tapping as a way for the brain to process past experiences and update memory networks with present adaptive information.
As a Grief and Loss Counselor with over 10 years of experience, I help you learn how to effectively handle the different kinds of losses you have faced. It can be extremely hard to deal with the complex feelings associated with loss. We often just bury the feelings deep inside. Pushing this powerful emotional pain down often leads to addictive behaviors and/or health challenges. I will support you to meet your feelings and guide your journey toward reconciliation, where the pain of the grief can transform to healing and a renewed sense of meaning and purpose.
How I help
With unconditional compassion and presence, I provide guidance and a safe space so that you can dive deeper into yourself and discover your inherent aliveness. Processing and releasing past wounds strengthen us. Inevitably we become better able to face the future with peace and live more balanced lives in the present. Helping you on your healing journey is an honor, and my calling. I look forward to the opportunity to take the next steps with you.
More about me:
I know intimately how health challenges can bring about major loss in our lives, as this happened to me. I survived two cancers. However, for me healing from illness was not only an absence of the symptoms, but an opportunity to deepen my relationship with myself. The grief and loss I experienced was an invitation for growth and change. I began to write poetry to express my feelings which helped my healing. My book, “The Little Book of Hope” was born out of this process. I now live in gratitude each day, and I continue to be inspired and supported by nature, dance, and my practice of meditation and yoga. This all creates balance and gives me deepening sense of connection with my mind, body, and spirit.
