GETME Experiential Therapy

01/05/2026

𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩
Mondays 5:30-7:30
https://getme.org/grief-group/

01/03/2026

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽
𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺-𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 10𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 12𝘱𝘮
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 9𝘵𝘩
Join a learning community of therapists exploring this challenging, life-changing way of working.
https://getme.org/experiential-therapy-study-group/

01/02/2026

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽
𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺-𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 10𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 12𝘱𝘮
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 9𝘵𝘩
Join a learning community exploring this challenging, life-changing way of working.
https://getme.org/experiential-therapy-study-group/

09/15/2025

Clinicians: Need Ethics Hours?
I'm running my training, 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, on Saturday, October 4th, from 8am to noon. This is a very active, experientially oriented training, where we both think and feel our way through complex ethical dilemmas.
https://getme.org/ethics-in-action/

"I like how open and grey the discussions were. It allowed me to expand my own process and how I approach ethical dilemmas."
-- Ethics in Action Participant

Embodied Ethics TrainingNext: October 4th, 2025 Some ethical questions are easy: Can I sleep with my client? No. Can I reflect my understanding of my client’s experience? Yes. Ethical questio…

09/02/2025

𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗠𝗘'𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁!
Adults playing together while confronting serious issues.

Tuesdays, 5:30pm Resumes September 9th Balancing Acts is an action group of approximately 6-8 people who meet weekly to help one another to explore and resolve their dilemmas, challenges and suffer…

09/02/2025

Experiential Therapy is a development of Humanistic Therapy. Here are some of things you might expect from this kind of work: The Relationship As befits a humanistic approach, the first principles of Experiential Therapy have to do with honoring the relationship between the person seeking help and the helper: 1) The therapist is clear and transparent, honest and genuine. The person will generally know a lot about the therapists’ responses and feelings, and needn’t worry that anything is being hidden....

Some things you might expect from working with an experiential therapist.

08/27/2025

Humanistic counseling is a response that grows from a need. Non-Humanistic Attitudes Historically, humanistic counseling was considered part of the "third wave" of psychology, after behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The humanists were concerned that these older approaches were less helpful than they could be because they were: Deterministic & Pessimistic - Freudians believed that people were basically stuck with themselves as they are, with very limited scope for actual change....

Humanistic counseling is a response that grows from a need. Non-Humanistic Attitudes Historically, humanistic counseling was considered part of the “third wave” of psychology, after beh…

08/24/2025

Here in Maine this past week, during late-mid-August, we had a few days that were distinctly autumnal : A chilly breeze, a sense of early darkness, brown leaves appearing from seemingly out of nowhere on the sidewalks and in the crevices....

Here in Maine this past week, during late-mid-August, we had a few days that were distinctly autumnal : A chilly breeze, a sense of early darkness, brown leaves appearing from seemingly out of nowh…

08/21/2025

𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺

With the internet sneaking off with our attention, while AI devours our culture, as civil liberties are under assault, and the gap between the rich and poor grows, and governments aggress against their neighbors and their own people -- standing up for humanistic values is more important than ever.

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

These values are crucial for social justice, but they are also -- according to psychological humanism -- essential foundations of mental health.

People are basically good (a humanistic belief), but all of us are subject to the infections of fear, shame, selfishness, despair, criticalness and coerciveness. Sometimes we're losing the fight, which causes suffering in ourselves and others.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. Returning to our humanistic values, again and again, fosters this deepening.

This is much more complicated and difficult -- and also more powerful and healing -- than anti-humanistic ideologies would have you believe.

It's the heart of humanistic counseling.

GETME is a place to receive counseling & psychotherapy, as well as a training center for professionals who offer these services.

08/20/2025

My Wednesday evening Action Group, 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀, starts two weeks from tonight!

An Action Group is different from what we might call "discussion therapy." Following the instruction to "show, don't tell," we get out of our chairs and enact the situations of our lives where problems do or did arise.

With the support of the facilitator and the group, we are:
𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 as to what happened.
𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 to try out new behaviors.
𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 to view the past differently, and imagine a different future.

None of this happens without proper warm-up of the group, and members participate only at their comfort level.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 / 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 / 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 / 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 / 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 / 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

This is in-person, in Portland. Sliding scale. Interview required. Reach out if you have any questions. Thank you for spreading the word!

"Empathy for Dudes" is an Action Group designed to help men develop better relationship skills, and expand their understanding of their own and others' thoughts, feelings and behavior.

08/19/2025

𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀
𝘊𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱
𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝟱:𝟯𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟳:𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺
𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 9𝘵𝘩
𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 / 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 / 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 / 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 / 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 / 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Tuesdays, 5:30pm Resumes September 9th Balancing Acts is an action group of approximately 6-8 people who meet weekly to help one another to explore and resolve their dilemmas, challenges and suffer…

08/19/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 -- Here are the answers to the Person-Centered Quiz:

𝟭) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 "𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀" 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲?
The answer is 6. Rogers never used the term "core conditions." That phrase was coined by later writers who used it used to denote the three "therapist-offered conditions" among the six. The trouble with ignoring the other three conditions is that doing so privileges therapist processes while ignoring client processes, badly distorting Rogerian theory, which is deeply concerned with both. All six are presented in his classic 1957 paper, “The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change."

𝟮) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀" 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵?
The answer is 19. In his 1951 book, 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, Rogers combined phenomenology, gestalt field theory, and his notions of the conditions for therapeutic change into a set of nineteen propositions that form the philosophical ground of Person-Centered work. If you haven't studied these, you really can't be said to know this theory.

𝟯) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟵?
The answer is 40. In the late 1950s, the APA asked major theorists to contribute chapters to a book on psychotherapy they were putting together. Rogers' chapter, "𝘈 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴: 𝘈𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬," remains the clearest systematic expression of Person-Centered thought. This is a dense piece of writing, and rewards multiple readings.

𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗜𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆," 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻"?
Yes, these are contrasting concepts in Rogerian theory. It doesn't help that Rogers himself was not always consistent in his terminology. But, in the above mentioned chapter -- actually, the first two of his 40 operational definitions -- he carefully distinguishes between 1) the 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮'𝘴 needs from 2) a separate, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 process. "Self-Actualization" too often represents a kind of false self, and can actually be the problem in Rogerian theory. Does this surprise you?

I hope it's obvious that the point of the quiz is not for therapists to be familiar with these 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. Rather, I'm attempting to call attention to the rich history and depth of thought in a tradition that goes back over 90 years. So many of today's popular approaches owe a huge debt to the person-centered tradition without any understanding or attribution.

Come study the original theory celebrating egalitarian, non-pathologizing, collaborative, strength- and compassion-based therapy.

https://getme.org/person-centered-therapy/