Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Arrington
Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out getting my undergrad degree in Recreational Leadership. My friends and I joked at the time that it was a “play major”, because of all the camping, survival, canyoneering, and back country skiing trips I got to do as part of my required classes. IN reality, it was an incredible foundation for me to learn how to plan, create, facilitate, and lead groups of people in wilderness and nature settings. I saw quickly how valuable outdoor settings are for creating really profound opportunities for deep conversations, connection, and healing.
After graduating, I pivoted to become a trauma informed yoga teacher and practiced this for about 16 years. This means that I have learned how to teach yoga in a way that provides empowerment and choice to those who might be survivors of past trauma. It is vital to craft and word smith a yoga practice that focuses on the sensations and body cues, rather than the flexibility or physical posture prowess. I taught in studios as well as in individual’s homes, teaching yoga routines that we’re specifically tailored to that client’s needs: one client had a recent hip surgery and couldn’t do many of the “regular” poses on the ground that would be cued in a yoga class. Another client had intense depression and couldn’t bring herself to leave the house, another struggled with severe obesity and found most of the poses to be inaccessible for her body type. With each client and each yoga session, I found that at the end of the session, in the final pose, savanna, they would often end with tears streaming down their face, in a huge rush of emotion. It usually came as a surprise to them that yoga could evoke such strong emotions and even cause them to cry.This became so common, that I decided to get more training on how to help people process the big emotions that came up with the somatic movement, or yoga, and I decided to go back tot school to be a marriage and family therapist.
I attended Converse College in South Carolina and it was a phenomenal program. They had a large emphasis on play therapy, which I felt fit perfectly with my back ground training in Recreational Leadership and also found the yogic philosophy really helped me with the psychology of the therapy modalities I learned to use in sessions. Being able to fuse psychology, nature, and yoga together for clients felt like a 3 Dimensional approach to mental health, and it also has proved to be extremely effective.
Therapy is successful when we can go beyond just words, our thoughts, and feelings. We must conciser and involve our body and spirit as well.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have restarted my business 4 times in 4 years due to moving across the United States, divorce, and a business restructuring and rebranding campaign. It has been a lot of work and keeping it all afloat amidst moving across the country from South Carolina and also getting divorced has been really hard. I really practice what I preach. I use every therapeutic tool and I use the A LOT. Doing this has helped me be able to support my clients in big emotional crisis and turmoil, as well as my daughter with all of our life changes.
Each time I have learned a lot and I really love owning my own business. I love being a therapist and seeing my clients get better, heal, function with more ease, and ultimately figure out answers and tools for their life has been one of the greatest rewards I could every dream up. I am so grateful for this profession and I love showing up at my office–indoor or outdoor–every day.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
One Arrow Therapy was started by Amanda Arrington, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, based off of a Buddhist parable of ‘Two Arrows’.
In Buddhist teachings, the Buddha described two arrows. The first arrow is the natural experience that arises in this human state that we live in–fear, cravings, trauma, aggression. One thing is for certain, we all get hit from time to time and no one is immune to that first arrow.
The second arrow, however, comes as a response to the first. We might have the experience of leaning into an addiction or craving, and then shame, experience self hate or self loathing and punish ourselves for that. That–the shame, self hatred/loathing, punishment -is the second arrow.
The Buddha says: ” The first arrow hurts, why do we shoot the second arrow into us, ourselves?” And yet, we do. He goes on to say: ” In life, we cannot always controls the first arrow; however, the second arrow is our reaction not the first The second arrow is optional.”The first arrow arises for causes and conditions beyond our control. But when we learn to release the judgment and shame that we experience in response to the first arrow, the second arrow becomes completely avoidable.
Amanda’s vision for One Arrow Therapy is to bring therapy to couples, families and individuals in a unique and different way. She regularly uses experiential techniques including play, sand tray, art, trauma-informed yoga, music, EMDR, and outdoor/adventure therapies. These techniques are high-quality, ethical , based on research and best practice. Amanda also offers intensives in which the client and therapist can decide to work together for a ½ day, full day, or several days.
Amanda works with those struggling in relationships, trauma, and issues of self worth.
Pain and trauma happens to us all. Like the one arrow, we do not get to escape that. However, it can be hard to know how to not shoot ourselves in the foot with the second arrow..or maybe even a third or fourth. That’s why getting support from a professional and having experiential options for therapy can feel really, really cool.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would like to be a pioneer for experiential therapy research modalities for couples, families, and individuals, specifically with the use of nature and outdoors environments. I also would like this holistic model to grow and expand, creating multiple clinics across Utah. Therapy is not as stigmatized as it once was; Id love for people everywhere to know and understand why experiential therapy is helpful–when there aren’t words to describe the trauma or the feelings, there are so many ways and options to find understanding, healing, and connection.
Pricing:
- Individual Session 155
- Family/Couple Session 165
- Half Day Intensive 600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.onearrowtherapy.com
- Instagram: @onearrowtherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onearrowtherapy
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@onearrowtherapy
