Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharan Chahal.
Hi Sharan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to LA almost eight years ago from the Midwest with the unshakable feeling that I knew I needed more for myself than what my hometown could offer. I felt complacent, unfulfilled and restless in Ohio. I never want to live my life with regret. I knew if I didn’t take the chance to move to Los Angeles right then and there in my twenties, there would be a high likelihood I would look back at that moment and regret never trying. I took a chance and packed up my little car and drove four days across the country to this magnificent city with no job lined up but a determination to make it. I have always felt the most in my element fulfilling my purpose in life being of service to others. Within a month of moving to LA, I found work in 2015 working as a Physical Therapist Assistant in a busy outpatient physical therapy clinic in Westchester. I would routinely see patients following total or partial joint replacements, patients living with chronic pain, neurodegenerative conditions, or rehabbing following traumatic accidents. I enjoyed my time with my clients and found that working in physical therapy would often require me to be an empathetic listener and to hold space for a patient’s fears and concerns.
In January 2016, I deepened my own practice of mind body spirit connection by enrolling in RYT-200 Yoga Teacher Training through the Yoga Mittra by Yoga Loft in Manhattan Beach, CA. I was guided and supported under the teachings of Suzy Nece, Shelley Williams and Genevieve Pujalet and my foundational training in yoga was vinyasa flow yoga. I furthered my yogic studies with advanced training the following year in yin and restorative yoga, advanced vinyasa sequencing and pranayama and meditation through The Green Yogi in Manhattan Beach. From 2016-2019 I taught Sunday evening restorative yoga in studios in downtown Manhattan Beach. I also taught vinyasa, slow flow, yin and yoga basics in several studios around the South Bay. In addition, from 2017 to 2019 I regularly taught Chair Yoga in nursing homes in Redondo Beach and Beverly Hills for senior citizens living within the spectrum of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
I began studying for my master’s in clinical psychology with a spirituality and depth psychology specialization at Antioch University in 2017. A diverse and eclectic range of psychoanalytic theories influences and impact the type of healer I aspire to be with all my clients. Such theories include Object Relations, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Internal Family Systems, Gestalt, Sensorimotor psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solutions Focused, and Attachment Theory – all within the lens of a Trauma-Informed Focus seeing the client as the experts on their lives.
I am now an Associate of Marriage and Family Therapist and work at Muse Treatment, a dual diagnosis mental health and addiction rehabilitation treatment center in Culver City. At Muse Treatment, I work with clients beginning their recovery journey in the detoxification process and follow their recovery progress through residential, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient levels of care. We often provide individual and couples therapy and work closely with their family members on consent. Working in the field of addiction, trauma and mental health is beyond rewarding as a therapist witnessing my client’s journey through their darkest times into a life of resilience, empowerment and fulfillment. In addition to working at Muse Treatment, I also work with individuals and couples navigating difficult life transitions in the private practice Trauma Resolution Therapy group based in Westwood.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My first year in LA was not easy. LA definitely taught me tough love. Coming from the Midwest, in a way LA provided a bit of a culture shock to me. Adjusting to LA was an uphill battle moving through chaotic situations, trusting the wrong people, and learning to lean on myself for support and strength as I navigated my life in this new city. Situations I have been through in this city forced me to discover a level of internal strength I did not know I embodied but discovered within myself as I learned to depend on myself through trying times. My mindset back then was I felt at the time there was not an option for defeat or quitting on my dreams. I don’t regret one minute of it, because LA helped me grow into the resilient woman I am today. I believe that suffering is an inevitable and unavoidable part of life. The growth happens with how we choose to respond to our suffering. I was determined not to become a victim of my circumstances. I allow my suffering to be my teacher, and the pain I endured to become my source of power. Everyone has a story and I was determined for mine to be one of perseverance.
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?
I feel so privileged to work in the field of mental health. As a psychotherapist, I am gifted with holding space for individuals who are overwhelmed or in severe distress navigating some of the most difficult moments in their lives. I believe strongly that the success of the therapeutic relationship depends on the relationship I build with my clients. A relationship that is built on support, trust and most importantly empathy. Within my field of psychotherapy, I lean heavily on the spiritual and somatic specialties of healing. I specialized in spirituality psychology in my Clinical Psychology master’s program and have a background guiding others in their yoga and meditation practice. I want to evolve beyond offering traditional talk therapy and integrate and honor the complex layers of healing. As a psychosomatic therapist, I want to move beyond cognitive therapy and into mind body and spirit integration. When working with my clients, I invite inquiry into the intuitive and somatic realities of my clients in addition to their cognitive reality of being. I aspire to become a licensed trauma-informed psychosomatic therapist that can offer modalities including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, CBT, DBT, narrative therapy, Attachment theory, sound healing as well as therapeutic yoga.
I understand with trauma, sometimes it is difficult for people to have the narrative to speak about their hurt. I believe deeply in the bottom up approach for some clients, to begin with the intuitive nonverbal somatic aspects of their understanding and work our way up to the logical cognitive aspects when processing and integrating their trauma. I envision having a private psychotherapy practice where I can offer individualized yoga therapy, sound healing and meditation in addition to the traditional 50-minute talk therapy session to fully integrate the healing of my clients.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I think in the field of mental health, the Covid-19 Crisis brought an immense shift in the way we offer our therapeutic services. Before Covid, most mental health services were in person in the office. The Covid lockdown forced many mental health practitioners into virtual therapy to accommodate for the extended lockdowns. I think the initial idea of many in my field was that virtual therapy was going to be a temporary accommodation we were forced into with lockdown. Something beautiful came from the Covid 19 crisis for mental health. Virtual psychotherapy is now mainstream and appears it is here to stay. Oftentimes, I have found in today’s world that the preferred method of therapy for many clients is virtual therapy. Working in my private practice at Trauma Resolution Therapy group, I find when clients have the option of seeing me virtual or in person, 9 out of 10 clients opt for virtual therapy. Every client in my private practice right now is virtual. I think virtual therapy has many benefits. When clients are struggling with their mental health, it can feel overwhelming to get in the car, go through traffic, find parking, attend their psychotherapy session and then worry or stress out about driving back home, eating into about 2-3 hours of their day. With virtual therapy, many clients can easily log on within seconds and have their psychotherapy session in the comfort of their own homes. The Covid 19 Crisis brought a silver lining to mental health in that virtual therapy provides greater accessibility and convenience for many people seeking to work on their mental health concerns. I think personally, the Covid 19 crisis allowed me the gift of greater introspection with the forced stillness of it all.
I think before the pandemic it was normal for me to be go go go hustling hard and focusing hard on the next step, too distracted or anxious to be present. With the lockdown, I had to get comfortable in the discomfort of the stillness and the unknown of our future. The lockdown forced me to slow down and appreciate my solitude. There is a difference between loneliness and solitude. I was able to build a better relationship with myself and work through my own internal struggles and fears with the surplus of alone time. Since the lockdown, I feel more comfortable being with myself and making time for myself. In my field of psychotherapy, we always stress the importance of “self care”. The covid 19 crisis really forced me into understanding what that meant for me. In my stillness and alone time, I evolved my spiritual practice and had the time to process my own character flaws and shortcomings or the shadow part of myself. The lockdown really helped me reassess my priorities, build a stronger connection to myself, and be more conscious of the present moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sharhealing.com
- Instagram: @shachawhatev
- Other: www.musetreatment.com, www.traumaresolutiontherapists.com
Image Credits
Jewels Gilson
