Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Shannon Simonelli.
Hi Dr. Simonelli, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved dancing and moving, in fact, I couldn’t sit still, I remember being as young as 3 years old dancing to American Bandstand and Soul Train. My active imagination got me in trouble for ‘not paying attention’ throughout my growing up… later, I learned I WAS paying attention to many things, just not to what my teachers or parents wanted me to!
As a young adult, I was obsessed with ‘self-improvement’ and self-help books. I was trying to make sense of my experiences in life, the difficulties, pains, and ways I felt misunderstood. I wanted to better understand and feel more in control of my emotions, my perception, thoughts, and the outcomes I created in my life.
As I matured and felt ready to continue my learning and education I set my sights on my passion for personal transformation. This lead me to a Breathwork training program, where I learned to facilitate groups of people in altered states of consciousness for transformation. Ultimately this work leads me to my Doctoral degree in Imaginal Psychology and Creative Arts Therapy.
Now, for a living, I assist people with their own transformation, healing, and well-being. I teach my clients and students to use their imagination, tune into and move their bodies, and look for the healing image in their own story.
I help people to focus on their inner life and learn to listen to the voice of their soul instead of getting distracted by all the ‘shoulds’ and ‘ought tos’ in the world. Helping people home to their own center, their own authentic voice is so fulfilling to me and gives me so much in return.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This has not been a smooth road. I think this is a very important thing for people to understand. Often, people who want more for themselves look at others and think their lives must have been easy.
This could not be further from the truth. It takes courage to become who you were born to be. That means taking risks and going for the thing that makes your heart sing… even if you don’t know how it will all work out.
For me, I grew up with learning disabilities and didn’t have a lot of confidence academically. I don’t test well and writing papers was a very hard-earned skill. I was a single mother and had a lot of stress in my life. I felt alone and overwhelmed much of the time.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Although I am a therapist, I relate to the world as a Creative. I have always perceived healing, therapy, and everyday issues from a different perspective than middle road of Psychology. The way I approach therapy is through the creative process, the body, image, and soul, from a place of wholeness. The client’s wholeness, my wholeness, and the desire for coherence. This approach invites my clients to consider their issues and struggles from a Soul centered place. This means we get curious about the deeper pull in their life…what IT wanting to heal and what wants to emerge into full and brilliant form.
In private sessions with clients, group workshops, or working with teams and organizations, the WAY we work is different than the norm. It is often disarming, taking people beyond their defenses and into the heart of the matter. The combination of body awareness, image, creative process, and soul is a powerful path. Working with imagery and using art supplies bypasses the conscious mind. This allows people to tune into awareness in the body and taps a body/brain connection which invites people into more coherence. Coherence between their heart and head. Coherence between their inner life and their outer life. Coherence between what matters most to them and the choices they make in daily life.
These ways of working tend to calm the nervous system, quiet stress and trauma, and allow participants to access their creative minds where insight and solutions are more easily found. Through image work and body-based moving awareness, the subconscious and unconscious find ways to reveal themselves. Allowing us to better understand the ‘full picture’ of one’s work or life patterns, pains, and desires. Although it is founded in science and rooted in ancient practice, this way of working often feels like ‘magic’, with simple truths revealing themselves and guiding the way towards one’s next right steps.
I love this way of working and profoundly trust these elements of our humanness.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I would say I am tenacious and persistent. I think outside the box. I am excited by challenges and look for creative solutions. I am highly creative and need to work on my craft – which is my way of working, always open to the next exciting project. I am generally a hopeful, optimistic person. I love people.
Contact Info:
- Email: ShannonSimonelli@gmail.com
- Website: www.ShannonSimonelli.com
- Instagram: @Dr.ShannonSimonelli
- Facebook: Dr. Shannon Simonelli: Luminous Life Maps
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClN9vuSZ6KR9UQb6HvD8V3w
- SoundCloud: DJ AnnonSi
Image Credits
KrautCreative, Renee Sarasvati
