Today we’d like to introduce you to Gayla Terzian.
Hi Gayla, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and also in the final stages of my studies to be credentialed as a Jungian Analyst (if all goes well!). I’m a therapist who is very open to admitting that I found my way here by navigating my own struggles with mental health. I have done battle with many of the issues I now treat… depression, anxiety, codependency, self-worth, lack of meaning, and the list goes on… In many ways I feel this career has found me. I’d had therapy on and off throughout my life because I always felt something was missing, but everything really changed when in my late 30’s I inadvertently stumbled into the office of a Jungian analyst in training. That’s when the magic started to happen for me, and it was during that process that I decided I wanted to become a depth therapist myself. Through dreamwork, active imagination and shadow work I found my true self, or maybe rediscovered myself. I felt liberated and changed in a way I hadn’t in the past. I definitely feel called to my profession. And I absolutely love it. I feel very honored to share in this sacred process with others on their own unique paths.
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?
Smooth? Oh gosh, no way! It has been a bumpy ride. This journey of going back to school for my Masters in Psychology in my later 30s up until now at 55 has been peppered with personal upheavals. I lost my father right around the time I was graduating. That was hard. Nothing can really prepare you for it. And then shortly after I was licensed and started at a group practice called Fig Tree Therapy, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Again, nothing prepares you for that either. And when I was done with treatment, a dear friend of mine died suddenly. During Covid, I lost my mother after a long battle with Parkinson’s, which was another heartbreak. And then a couple of months after that, I lost my beloved dog. I know, I know… there’s more, more unexpected early deaths of loved ones, health scares, and other unforeseen events, but I just want to say, this IS life. And during all of this I was so very grateful I’d done so much deep work on myself. Because the old me wouldn’t have made it. It allowed me to approach all of this LIFE with a very adaptable, dare I say, even positive, attitude. I mean, I’m in the game, man. This is what you get when you sign up for life. But this perspective which has served me so very well has been hard earned. At least in my case. And I continue to cultivate it daily because I’m not here to fall apart. I want to put up a fight in this life. I try to help my clients get here because it’s a gift, and allows you to see all the beauty in the everyday, the light in the dark. Not everyone can get there any or all of the time, and I understand this. Sometimes you just need to be very sad and cry what seem like endless tears and sink into the darkness. Sometimes you need to get angry or feel guilty. That’s useful too. There’s a season for everything. I’m here for all of it.
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?
I specialize in Depth Psychology. That means I like to work from the bottom level and work upward. One may come in for this or that, but I’m looking for your soul’s journey. I’m trying to connect with the deepest part of a person because I believe most of our “issues” originate with being out of alignment with who we really are. Sometimes we’re depressed because we need to sink down into ourselves, withdraw from the outside world and revisit the inner world. We need to get the treasure and bring it back up, get a new attitude about something. It’s purposeful. I’m practical too. If you have an issue with your partner or a parent, I like to be strategic and help you find the path that frees you up and allows energy to flow again. I think I’m unique in that I bring a lot of myself into the room. I share a lot of myself. I’m also very open to the esoteric and mysterious aspects of life. I love bringing in tarot, I-ching, energy work, astrology, you name it. I like these tools not only because they’re archetypal, and a client’s connection with a particular aspect tells me something about their psyche, but also because I believe in the magic! I love the irrational and unexplainable. I think these things make life interesting and can exist right alongside the more logical and theoretical points of view. I don’t ever want to squeeze the life force out of something by analyzing it to death. I’m very proud that I’m in a position to do things the way I feel is right and correct. I don’t need to compromise myself in order to make a living. I do what I do because I love it. I’m blessed. My “brand” is helping each individual find their own unique “brand.”
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
This one is difficult only because so many people supported me along the way, so if I start calling anyone out specifically, I may forget someone. So many people have been helpful and encouraging, some without even knowing it. And I have to say, I really love having my clients to show up for. Especially when things were rough, having to show up for someone else who needed something from me got me out of my own suffering and helped me realize we’ve all got our stuff we’re dealing with. This is a secret, but they saved ME during the pandemic! And my own analyst has been pretty great. He really encouraged me to actually pursue the Jungian analyst training I’d been just talking about for so long. It’s 6 more years of training, so it’s quite the commitment, but he got me to finally bite the bullet.
Pricing:
- Individual session $220
- Couples session $250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gaylaterziantherapy.com
