Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonna Tamases.
Hi Jonna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a therapist. I love being a therapist so much. I get to be with and help guide people as they do the deep, beautiful work of discovering their true selves. I see each person as a unique bouquet. We all have tons of different flowers in our bouquet – flowers of talent, compassion, creativity, and courage. We also have flowers of things like anger, fear, selfishness, sadness, and hurt. I love helping people discover and build compassion for all of their flowers. Whether someone is dealing with “I never feel like I’m good enough,” “My (partner, kids, boss) is driving me crazy, and it seems like I’m angry all the time!”, “I don’t know who I am anymore,” or “I can’t stop worrying, and my stomach is in knots!” I love to help people unburden from their pain, reconnect with their strength and creativity, and be who they really are.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been a little bit very windy! Therapy is my second career, and it came after a robust mid-life crisis. Here’s what happened: after college I focused on a career in performing arts. I went to Clown College, joined the circus, moved to LA, got into a great sketch comedy company, and got great reviews. I made a one-woman play that had some success and then made an elaborate movie version of it. I believed the movie and play would lead to acting jobs and that success (being an in-demand comedic film actress) was my due. Except the movie didn’t sell, and for as much praise as my performances garnered I got no job offers.
By 2010, at age 44, my path had become unsustainable. I remember lying in bed, thrashing and wailing at this inconceivable outcome. I nose dove into depression. If I’m not an actress, who am I? If I’m not pursuing a career, then what am I doing? I’m a LOSER. I’m a FAILURE.
So I got into therapy. I started to look at the underlying beliefs that had me on my previous path – beliefs and patterns of behavior that came from childhood experiences and trauma. This is a well known idea, that events/traumas in our childhood often continue to affect us subconsciously long into our adult lives. But it was news to me. I had no idea!
Turns out all that praise and encouragement I received left me little room to deeply experience failing and surviving. Or room to know all of my “disavowed” flowers (weakness, sadness, anger). I believed that I was either successful or nothing. I’ve also been revisiting and unpacking some traumatic experiences – childhood sexual abuse, having cancer at age 19 and cancer at 20, and then, guess what, cancer again at 33; major surgeries, including open heart surgery in 2022. My body has been through a lot; I have fear, and I want to be friends with my body.
I learn to embrace the fullness of who I am. I’m a winner and I’m a failure. I’m strong and I’m frail. I’m kind and I’m selfish. I’m alive and I will die. I love it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My own journey has become my work: helping others discover and embrace their own fullness, their beautiful bouquet! People come to me when they notice they’re irritable all the time, or sad, or wondering why all their hard work hasn’t led to any feeling of fulfillment, or feeling overwhelmed and panicky all the time, or having trouble in their relationships.
My office is in a cozy, garden bungalow because I want to offer people a place of rest and comfort. I bring my warmth to give them a space where they get to say anything, even the dark stuff. No judgment whatsoever! (Some people call me an Anger Queen. Bring your anger!). I use my insight and experience to help people make sense of their journey. And I bring my intuition and attention to notice their subtle signals, signals that can lead them to a deeper understanding of themselves.
One of my favorite parts of my work is that I’m able to use my experience in the “expressive arts” (my previous career) in my therapy work! In my Blender Workshops, as well as for clients who are interested, I facilitate using movement, vocalizing, and sharing to explore and unpack memories, emotions, and experiences. We use our natural ability to notice in-the-moment happenings (inside ourselves and in the room) as a source for play and expression. It’s an awesome and fun way to build self-confidence and self-knowing, get the stress out, build connection with others, and cultivate our natural creativity.
I think it’s really neat how all the experiences on my path, the good and the bad, came together into this career where I feel my own creative flow and get to connect with other people in a meaningful way. You are worth knowing, seeing, advocating for, and protecting – this is what I want my clients to experience in my presence. Did I mention how much I love being a therapist?
How do you think about happiness?
What’s making me happy right this second is getting to make this list! I like the 2016 movie “Contratiempo” (“The Invisible Guest”), lying down, paying with exact change, the Final Destination movie franchise (most recent one was so good!), talking about feelings, hospital-grade painkillers (the upside of having so many surgeries), backpacking, Gildart Jackson’s voice, and California Poppies (I love their resilience; they grow out of cement cracks!). This whole interview was so much fun. Thank you!
Pricing:
- 50-min session (often individuals) – $150
- 75-min session (often couples) – $225
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jonnatherapy.com
Image Credits
Anthony Yeo
