Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Tickner, MFT, PhD
Hi Chris, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a household that valued alternative and holistic approaches to healing. And while I had early dreams of being a concert timpanist, or Broadway star (I studied both music and theatre in my undergrad days at Indiana University, Bloomington), I ended up studying massage therapy in Chicago in the mid-90’s. After working on bodies for several years, I realized I was missing something. My clients kept returning with the same problems. The bodywork alone was not getting to the root.
My massage practice just happened to be in a building owned by a Hakomi therapist, a form of somatic psychology developed in the 1970s by Ron Kurtz. I learned a lot there, and realized I needed to take the next step. My wife and I left Chicago for Boulder, where I received my MA in Somatic Psychology at Naropa University.
After that we moved out here to Los Angeles, and I worked at the Sycamores in Altadena for my MFT Internship. After getting licensed I opened up my private practice in Pasadena and things have grown from there.
About ten years ago I received my PhD in Somatic Psychology from the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. And over the past ten years I have really developed an affinity for couples work, training in PACT and Hakomi.
California Integrative Therapy is now an important mental health agency in the Pasadena area, serving individuals, couples, families, kids and groups.
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?
Besides the lean years of grad school, I found it particularly difficult to work in a public mental health agency. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed and cherished working with the boys there, ages 5 to 17. I learned more working with those kids than in any class in any program before or since. But the system itself was exceptionally difficult. I was a fish out of water, being a somatically oriented, holistic therapist in a very CBT oriented world. It was quite a learning curve. And it took several years of my own therapy to work through the trauma I witnessed. The suicide of one of our clients during that time was particularly difficult. My wife and I both were working there at the time, doing therapy and theatre classes for the kids. This one amazing young man, maybe 14 years old, took his own life. It was devastating.
We’ve been impressed with California Integrative Therapy, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
California Integrative Therapy was founded by myself and my wife Andrea-Marie Stark. We have an amazing group of therapists and practitioners offering a wide range of services including individual, couples, family and child/teen therapy, EMDR, Brain Spotting, somatic therapy, Hakomi psychotherapy, PACT couples therapy, reiki, and shamanism.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Remember that the most healing part of what we do is the connection we have and the quality of the relationship we cultivate with our clients. Far more important than any intervention or technique, is how well you listen, watch and follow. So, like one of my teachers always said, when you think you know what is happening, shut up, sit back, and listen more. Practice mindfulness during sessions, stay in your body, track your clients, and use words sparingly. Find something to adore in each of your clients. Your genuine presence and loving attention is the real stuff of therapy.
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