Madrona Therapeutics
Welcome to Madrona Therapeutics!
Therapy Can Go Further:
Practicing Wholeness Restoration In a Wounded World
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost
—Martha Graham
Mission Statement
At Madrona Therapeutics, we aim to expand the practice of mental healthcare and therapy beyond the dichotomy of sick & well to include the full-potential growth of the whole person—body, mind, psyche, spirit, ancestry, community—and the realm of the spirit and intergenerational forces that are in our midst at all times.
The methods used in this practice are experiential & ceremonial therapies with consciousness-expanding tools, and the focus of that work is relational, attachment- & trauma-informed, spirit-inclusive, and collaborative.
the human condition cannot be cured, nor should we try
At Madrona Therapeutics, We Believe In:
The transformative nature of compassionate care in collaborative inner healing work
Psycho-spiritual & embodied healing: modern & ancient techniques in combination
The power of sacred medicines & ceremonies
Collective/group (and not just individual) healing work to assist in the evolution of the world, one being (in relationship) at a time
Alternative models to traditional psychotherapy for deep-level healing work
we also understand the need to go beyond trauma and stabilization work, and toward transformative depth and ascendence work
Beyond Allopathic Mental Health Therapy
Modern mental healthcare has sprung from the medical model and has at its core the desire to cure disease. However, the human condition cannot be cured, nor should we try. We seek to move away from that tradition toward others that are rooted in perennial wisdom, evolving science, and thought leadership that is responsive to the shifting currents of these, our wild times.
MENTAL HEALTH CARE IS WHOLENESS RESTORATION WORK
We in the West, especially white folx, suffer and often inflict suffering on others related to their/our limited ability to feel whole as individual beings in a highly interdependent collective and within modern systems that are oppressive and harmful (or at the very least, not supportive of health and wholeness).
IN THIS PRACTICE WE WORK WITH TREATMENTS THAT ADDRESS OUR INNATE WHOLENESS
We plumb the depths of the psyche in order to re-pattern trauma, all the while acknowledging the precarity and injustice of the world in which we live. Forever aiming for greater healing and wholing to assist in the betterment of the world, one human being (in relationship) at a time.
we work with treatments that address our innate wholeness
We Believe That Therapy Can Be Better
Certain principles of psychology are successful for symptom reduction and stabilization and are highly valued and utilized in this practice.
However, we understand the need to go beyond trauma and stabilization work, and toward transformative depth and ascendence work.
As it is stated in many wisdom traditions: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW. In this practice we believe both in the downward trajectory of deep healing as well as rising to the high heights of our full human and spiritual potential (detailed in the Wholeness Diagram- provided to clients in this practice).
What you pay attention to grows
—Adrienne Maree Brown
We Believe That Therapy Is In Need of Disruption
At Madrona Therapeutics we believe that there is a need to expand therapy practice from the weekly, one hour talk session to include other varieties and frequencies. Therefore we mostly forego that model in favor of one that is more flexible and adaptive to the lives of the individual client, and to our times, which call for more experiential therapies for deeper-level healing. We are informed by Adrienne Maree Brown's Emergent Strategy and the Elements & Core Principles, which points toward a vision of an interdependent whole where complex systems (both individual and collective) can apply more creative possibilities, treatments and modalities to the standard frameworks of our day.
Our Practices
Internal Family Systems & Experiential Approaches
IFS & AEDP
The inner world of the client, and the various parts within, are the primary drivers of this work. In this practice, we deeply listen and attend to the internal system, often prioritizing the parts within that are rooted in trauma and unmet childhood or cultural needs or harms. These parts, and the Self at the center of the person, are always seek healing and wholing, so we use IFS & AEDP techniques along with other spiritual, relational, and mindfulness practices to go deeper, and unlock the natural healing resources at the core of the person.
HEALING AGENTS
We use experiential techniques, ceremonial practices, and healing agents to expand therapy from talk alone, to much more deep realms. Please inquire within for more details on these exact practices.
GROUP WORK
We also believe in the importance of Group work to support the practices in individual therapies, so that the wisdom and gifts of the collective and of community can be accessed within the therapeutic framework. We have moved away from the model of therapy that seeks to exclusively isolate individuals in their private healing spheres, because we believe that human beings are meant to heal one another.
we believe in a more flexible framework
Who Is a Good Fit for This Practice?
Most clients joining this practice will be over the age of 25 and will have a long background of personal therapy and recovery or spiritual & body work of an emotional/mental health nature prior to working in these modalities
Many of these past approaches have reached a point of limitation that cause one to look to further venues for healing work
Clients who seek alternative experiential methods choose to work in more expanded ways, and welcome the unknown that can come in such work, knowing that this can lead to uncomfortable growing edges at times
Details About These Practices
A FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK
The traditional weekly hour-long session is a useful model for those newer to therapy or for certain kinds of focused work with a trusted therapist/mentor. But it is not the only way to utilize the gifts of therapy! In this practice we believe in a more flexible framework: Trauma-informed IFS therapy and ongoing support and self-awareness work can occur at many frequencies, including “PRN”, only as needed. Clients in this practice remain as long as the relationship exists, with no required time slot.
FULL OR HALF DAY SESSIONS & CEREMONIES
The centerpiece of this practice is full-day and half-day experiential & ceremonial sessions in your home (if nearby) or on our site, located in Central Seattle on occupied Duwamish Territory. We provide pre-and post-session therapy following full- and half-day sessions to prepare, support and help integrate that work.
GROUP WORK
We also offer regular group ceremonies to aid in the healing work of the individual through the collective and through community.
Inquire Directly
For more information on what range of therapies are offered in this practice, and about the BIPOC rate or sliding fee scale if that is applicable to you. Individualized therapies are expensive. Please reach out if you need healing work that you cannot afford, and we will do our best to accommodate you, with a priority for Black & Indigenous folx or those with multi-generational poverty.
What Informs Us
Influences In This Practice
What Informs the Healing Modalities In This Practice
Anti-Racism of a uniquely American kind (where grievous harms are denied and not repaired)
Respect for Spirituality & Religion of all kinds
Gender & Sexuality Inclusivity
The ethics of consent
Ability Inclusivity
Neurodiversity
Sex Positivity
Fat Positivity
Change is constant. (Be like water).
—Adrienne Maree Brown
The Wholeness Diagram
Liz has created a framework that diagrams the nature of whole person healing that is made available to her clients.
It is based on the Celtic Tree of Life, which is a symbol of all the forces of nature in delicate combination, including our human nature. This "tree" in its wholeness, details the "above" and "below" aspects of the therapeutic in transformational healing work.
On this diagram, Liz has mapped the psychological concepts of trauma and parts work with other ancient schemas for understanding deep-level psychological change through magical and alchemical perspectives.
WHOLE PERSON HEALING REQUIRES US TO GO DEEP
Meaning, to go further than talk therapy, through experiential techniques which delve into the underworld of the psyche (sometimes referred to as the human shadow).
This “downward spiral” of deeper level psychological work tends to be misunderstood in American culture and in the traditional field of psychology today. However, in many wisdom and spiritual traditions, it is well-known that inner processes require deep and sometimes difficult delving for transformational change to occur.
The Wholeness Diagram gives us a map to use for pursuing that good, deep work.
But when I lean over the chasm of myself—
it seems my God is dark and like a web: a hundred roots silently drinking.This is the ferment I grow out of.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
Bio
Liz Covey, MA, LMHC, LMT, LPC & Associates
LIZ IS A LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR (LMHC) and MASSAGE THERAPIST (LMT) in Washington State and in Oregon (LPC). She has decades of experience in traditional therapy practice as a trauma and attachment specialist, including family and child therapy. She also has been a consultant, trainer and freelance writer in the mental health field for nearly 2 decades.
THE EMPHASIS IN HER PRACTICE TODAY is on expanded therapy work using modern and alternative techniques in combination. Liz has trained in the Consciousness Medicine community in California's Bay Area, and is an apprentice with a 30 year veteran in the field. She also collaborates with a variety of Seattle-area and PNW therapist who practice in this same framework. Please inquire within for details on those individuals and their availability.
Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me. I am who I am, doing what I came to do, acting upon you like a drug or a chisel, to remind you of your you-ness, as I discover you in myself.
—Audre Lorde
Theoretical Orientation
Liz has been trained by Richard Schwartz in Internal Family Systems (IFS- Level 2) and Diana Fosha in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and has been theologically trained through Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry. She is also a licensed massage therapist (LMT) and currently studies and practices with the Golden Web Mystery School in Portland, Oregon.
Liz has created the Wholeness Diagram which is a schema that incorporates healing principles from various esoteric and traditional spiritual and psychological models to illustrate working in a whole-healing framework in personal therapy.
Madrona Therapeutics is committed to...thought leadership that teaches broadly to expand the hearts and minds of people during a time of immense disorder
Anti-Appropriation
Madrona Therapeutics is committed to not applying cultural appropriation of any kind to work in this practice. Liz draws learning and practice skills from wells that are within her legacy/rights to learn, such as northern European traditions and American and other thought leadership that teaches broadly to expand the hearts and minds of people during a time of immense disorder, change and much-needed evolution.
Land Acknowledgment:
We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live was not acquired by ethical means and that reparations for land theft and occupation have never been made. We honor the Suquamish, the Duwamish, the Muckleshoot, and the Stillaguamish peoples who tended and have full rights to this land. Madrona Therapeutics pays Real Rent to the Duwamish Tribe monthly to begin to address this travesty. All the while recognizing that this is meager, and that even a statement is only words. Nonetheless, the original peoples of this land are honored in all aspects of this work.
Contact Us
Send us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Madrona, Seattle, WA 98122
206-462-0943