Shodo Spring – Northfield Office

Shodo Spring
MSW, LICSW

If you are alive, you hold within you wisdom, strength, love, and joy.

Still, sometimes life gets hard, and you need all your resources. I can help you access your own wisdom, strength, and courage, and reach out to those around you as well.

I am a psychotherapist with a focus on joy, intimacy, spirituality, and empowerment. I work with people rather than problems, and with the whole person, not just the mind. Still, I have special training and interest in:

– Reducing anxiety and depression related to climate change or other immediate threats

– Helping activists be true to themselves, fully resourced, and effective in their work

– Grief, loss, aging, and chronic pain or illness

Most of us live with a deep disconnection from ourselves – and from our families, our communities, and our own deepest longings. My core work is to help you heal that disconnection and discover what it can feel like to be whole again. We do this together, in the context of addressing your immediate issues, and within a relationship that is respectful, compassionate, and nourishing. It is a privilege to accompany a person in this way.  I honor the work both by gathering skills and by staying grounded and open myself.

My training includes extensive training in mindfulness, in cultural awareness, in holistic approaches to healing (particularly Hakomi and Process Work), and in communication. Depending on your needs and wishes, we may use mindfulness and meditation training, somatic awareness, forgiveness, effectiveness training (including communication, problem-solving, and more), and/or gathering resources. Outside of therapy I practice and teach Zen, love the natural world, and am actively engaged in learning from many cultures. I wrote Take Up Your Life: Making Spirituality Work in the Real World (1996) and recent essays and articles on similar topics.

I’m a Zen priest and teacher with over 35 years of meditation practice. I can meet your concerns without denial.