Episode #29: Turning Suffering Into Meaning with Healer Katherine Lawson

There’s a reason our guest today is nicknamed the “Indiana Jones of the dream world.” Katherine Lawson is a doctoral student in the Mind-Body Medicine Degree Program at Saybrook University and a certified Embodiment Imagination practitioner. She is a woman on a mission to shift the current state of conventional medicine to a more holistic and integrative place for those suffering. Katherine shares how the grief and loss in her own personal life led her to follow her calling to become a healer, specializing in dream work and helping people explore what they need to bring into their waking life. She also talks about her current work with cancer patients and their family, and her upcoming programs to reach even more people with her important message.

Takeaways:

[2:07] In hindsight, Katherine recognizes that her somewhat chaotic childhood and upbringing led to her an interest in psychology and counseling.

[6:44] There is no right way to grieve. We all process trauma differently, and Katherine’s deep dive into healing herself led to a nurturing and honesty towards the reality of what had happened in the past, and the steps she needed to take to love herself and others.

[10:34] Dreams and dreamwork are an incredible resource to show us our trauma and guide us towards the actions we need to take to bring our healing from sleep into our waking life.

[13:23] Katherine’s client base chose her. She first worked with many who had suffered some sexual trauma, and now worked in the sex worker and alternative sex industry.

[19:53] In the practice of embodied imagination, it is much more felt than visualized. For those that don't remember their dreams, Katherine mentions two practices to increase your dream recall. The more attempt you make to remember your dreams, the more you can tap into this part of our subconscious.

[23:04] Katherine's personal experience of the trauma that comes with a cancer diagnosis led her to work with other cancer patients and their families to help them process the isolation, anger, fear and frustration that comes with a diagnosis.

[35:41] Stating to the universe what you want is powerful. Once you get clear on what you want, state it out loud and even write it out, then release it and focus on your own enjoyment, it’s magical to watch what unfolds.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Quotes

  •  “I’m certainly someone that tends to view some of the best healers that I know as wounded healers, and I count myself in that tribe.”
  • “You have to either go under as the result of tremendous amount of trauma and grief, or you have to try and make meaning. Meaning making led me to go deeper in my path in the field of psychology.
  • “I don’t view grief as something that ends and goes away. I’m able to find meaning in unbearable pain and sadness, and some of that is being of service to other people experiencing the same emotions.”
  • “I’ve been able to find meaning in unbearable pain and sadness.”
  • “Our dreams are working in service to us if we can figure out how to listen.”
  • “There needs to be a shift in conventional medicine that’s more integrative and more holistic.”

Super U Resources:

Leave A Comment