Philosophy:
“To float, upheld, as saltwater would hold you.” - Denise Levertov
Loinnir is an Irish word that means glimmer of light, and often refers to the shimmer of the sun on the sea. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest a couple of years ago, the immense beauty of the light on the water became a source of joy for me. The interplay of light and water seems to capture something about our inner essence as humans, and offers to us a kind of consolation.
Living by the ocean also led to making the acquaintance of seals bobbing their heads up to say hello. There are some quite beautiful associations and mythologies to do with seals and selkies (as well as some dark ones) - they are often linked with the liminal, the unconscious, the search for home and belonging, and transformation into one’s true self.
The world of mental health so easily shrinks down into checklists and protocols, which is such a sad thing when to be human is so wildly complex, beautiful, and mysterious. I hope to hold together the value of evidence-based skill, analytical thought, and effective therapeutic intervention with an honouring of the much slower, gentler process that reflects the unfolding of what is most precious in us, and the therapist role of accompaniment in that unfolding.
