My personal journey of hurt and healing began dramatically and traumatically many years ago. I lost my two sisters and my mother to multiple suicides. Addiction and emotional illness have since claimed other family members. I have journeyed into the underworld many times in my grief and anguish over these tragic losses. Since then, my focus and passion have been healing -- my own and others. As a woman who has suffered personal tragedy, disciplined myself to heal and recover, and then dedicated myself to learn healing skills, I bring maturity, wisdom, and compassion to my Depth work with others.

For many years I have been tending my own dreams, developing relationships with the dream visitors, nurturing potent allies, and integrating their wisdom into my life. I have expanded this Depth work with Creative Process which includes clay wisdom masks, clay wisdom figures, creativity journals with collage, and nature assemblages.

Forged in my own experiential fires, the foundation of my work is the knowledge that each of us holds within us a vast, purposeful unconscious realm teeming with valuable insights. I love guiding others as they navigate the reality of this unconscious realm. I am deeply moved when I tend a person’s dreams or life situations and witness their movement toward greater authenticity as they deepen their connection with their inner wisdom.

The unconscious does not speak in straightforward rational terms but rather reveals itself through the rich symbols contained in our dreams, creative processes, and the synchronicities of waking life. As an experienced facilitator and counselor, I support individuals by guiding them in their exploration of the hidden realms of psyche. I do this through the lens of Jungian Psychology, Creative Process, DreamTending, and TendingPsyche.

I earned a Master’s degree in Depth Psychology from Sonoma State University in California and completed advanced training in DreamTending with Dr. Steven Aizenstat, at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California. I have training in Gestalt Therapy, Humanistic Psychology, Psychodrama and Addictions Counseling. I have also completed a nine year Jungian Analysis. In addition to my private practice and Creativity & Depth Workshops, I offer regular presentations to the graduate students at Prescott College in Prescott, AZ.

I live in Sedona, Arizona with John, my husband of 25 years, and our two dogs, Zorro and Lilly. We enjoy daily hikes in the beautiful red rocks of Sedona. In addition, we stay healthy with swimming and yoga.

 

JoHanna visits the Asclepian Temple for Dream Healing in Epidaurus, Greece

“Participating in JoHanna’s weekly DreamTending group has been a transformative experience both spiritually and emotionally. JoHanna is an attentive, extremely skilled and sensitive facilitator with an amazing information base on healing. Using my dreams to help me identify the nature of the issues confronting me, JoHanna has been able to help me find a much needed sense of support and resolution.” Rosemary Murray

“After taking JoHanna’s DreamTending workshop at Prescott College, I knew I would attend all her future workshops! She is an extremely intuitive and gifted facilitator. My perspective is unique, having worked as a therapist for more than 30 years. JoHanna’s work is intense and facilitates positive change on a deep level. She is gentle, yet speaks with knowing and authority. I now attend her on-going two-hour weekly group in Prescott, AZ. I also asked JoHanna to lead a two-hour family session for myself, my adult daughter, and her fiancé. The results were indeed impressive. JoHanna facilitated positive changes in deep-rooted family dynamics. I would summarize JoHanna’s work as spiritual, magical, and something that needs to be experienced.” Susan B. Kullman, C.S.W., PhD.

“I was profoundly moved, several years ago, when JoHanna first guided me to the ancient temple of dreams and invited me to step across the threshold of the ego world into the soul world. Unlike traditional Jungian therapy, DreamTending is refreshingly experiential rather than conceptual. JoHanna creates a confident atmosphere of utter safety and protection to dive deep into mystery, dreams, insights, and the shadow. DreamTending is a time to meet and relate with new allies who help develop gifts of imagination, intuition, and instinct. And, it is a time to bear witness to vulnerabilities and to heal old wounds. In this journey I am experiencing a deep passion for my blossoming creativity, an empowering wisdom of self-discovery, and an abiding self-acceptance. Finally, it is a joy, at the end of a DreamTending session to leave a small gift in the temple, in gratitude and anticipation for the next visit.” Pam Taylor, MA

“I attended JoHanna’s bi-weekly dream group for over a year when she was working in California – we miss her! I have worked with her one-to-one by phone since then. Over and over I have been astonished by how astute she is and how she is able to help me – even with just a snippet – to discover what the dream is saying about my life. JoHanna is very wise, and you can tell that she comes from a place of deep personal experience, whether she’s doing dream work or using other shamanic approaches. Always her approach is gentle, but powerful. There’s no one better in the field!" Dorene Mahoney, MA, SPHR
Vice President of Episcopal Senior Communities

“JoHanna has the gifts of true empathy, patience, and composure. She creates a DreamTending environment that is contained in the manner of a sacred temple, inviting each person in to share when and as they are ready, gently probing from some inner knowing, and then guiding the dreamer through the dream experience and back out again. JoHanna is quietly present and gently probing. She respects one’s boundaries of readiness and safety. She does not interpret the dream. Instead, she guides the dreamer to her own understanding – in body, mind, and soul – of dream images, associations, memories, insights, and instructions from the inner self. Since my work with JoHanna, I trust the wisdom of my body/mind more. I am more acquainted with how to follow a dream image or sensation where it wants to take me in an environment that is safe, supportive, and unrushed. Through DreamTending with JoHanna, I have engaged and dialogued with dream figures who are now trusted allies."Linda Elliott, MA

"JoHanna is a modern day Shaman, a natural at entering the realm of Psyche. Her ability to guide others is so instinctive that before you know it, you have entered, navigated, and emerged from the deepest corners of your hidden self with a revelation that changes everything. Her presence is empowering; somehow she shares her wisdom and courage so you feel it as your own. Truths I have been running from or unable to see suddenly become visible and manageable when working with her. I have had both group and individual experiences. Either way, she offers opportunities for all involved to mine their depths and come up with gold."Debra Huffman