The Artistry of the Archetype

Lead. Create. Heal. Help. March. Teach. Support. Decolonize. Smash the patriarchy!

And, in the words of the late John Lewis, cause “necessary trouble” without losing yourself in the process.

Join an eight-week group program for changemakers that’ll make you feel more plugged into your life and your work.

It’s also for artists, activists, healers, and for you if you identify as wise, highly sensitive, empathetic, and intuitive.

This group is an anti-racist, LGBTQIA+ safe space.

Suffering in silence while longing to make a difference?

No, this isn’t all there is.

You know that.

But you can still get stuck ruminating. Your mind can get cluttered. You can feel burnt out. You have a deep longing for something different. This eight-week program for changemakers can help you overcome feelings of:

  • Identity Crisis. 

  • Low self-worth and self-esteem. 

  • Trauma responses resurfacing.

  • Numbness and dissociation. 

  • Loneliness. 

  • Isolation & avoidance.

  • Confusion.

  • Low self-compassion.

  • Imposter syndrome. 

  • Physical manifestations of stress (aches, pains,sleep & digestive issues).

  • Deep longing to do more with your life.

  • Underserved, disenfranchised grief. 

  • Underserved, vicarious trauma. 

  • Feelings of being abandoned by the universe. 

  • Feeling like your life force is dimming.

  • Fear of losing your compassion.

  • Disconnection from your passions.

  • Disconnection from your relationships.

  • Feeling unworthy and unwell.

I haven’t listed anything that I haven’t experienced myself.

The Artistry of the Archetype is for:

  • Artists, creatives, activists, and healers.

  • Deep thinkers, empaths, and highly-sensitive people.

  • Outsiders, rebels, and pioneers.

  • Anyone who’s been called “too sensitive” or “weird.”

  • Folks already on a healing journey.

  • Folks who have done deep work before, through therapy, counseling, or coaching.

  • People with big hearts and big minds.

  • Generational-trauma breakers.

  • Visionaries.

  • People who dig metaphor, visualization, and guided imagery.

But you don’t need to identify with these categories to benefit from your personal archetypes. Just like you don’t have to be an artist with a capital A to make art.

This eight-week group program will be hard work. The Artistry of the Archetype probably isn’t for you if you’re just looking for quick fixes or surface-level solutions.

The Artistry of the Archetype

An eight-week program for changemakers who are experiencing an existential or identity crisis and want support in piecing themselves back together, reaffirming their purpose, and feeling more plugged into their life’s work.

During our time together, I will introduce you to three universal archetypes that have been working behind the scenes of your mind.

This kind of self-discovery will bring some big “aha” moments and meaningful revelations that will clarify the sources of your most repetitive (and annoying) internal dialogue, give you a new way to self-regulate, and deepen your compassion for yourself and others so that you can move through life with self-assurance. 

How will forming a relationship with archetypes help me? 

Have you ever tried to merge into traffic and didn’t see the car in your blindspot? It was always there, but you just couldn’t see it. And you needed to see it to avoid a dent or something worse.

Well, archetypes are like that. Until we get to know the role they’ve played in our life, they stay in our blindspot. Once you see them, you’ll feel relief and gratitude as you learn to avoid needless emotional discomfort.

We adjust our rear-view mirrors and get in to the habit of looking in our blindspot to avoid that horrible feeling of almost crashing. 

The Artistry of the Archetype will help you:

  • Learn how your mind has falsely categorized the world in to good and bad. You will learn to see nuance and stop making snap judgments.

  • Recognize your unique “rules to live by” that have shaped your decisions, so that you can determine which rules are bullshit, which are worth reconstructing, which are harmful and need banishing, and which feel wise and align with your values.

  • Understand the roots of your negative self-talk, so you can soothe yourself more directly and return to the here and now quicker. 

  • Cultivate new tools for dealing with life’s triggers.

  • Garner more compassion for your hardest feelings, so you can offer yourself the same grace you offer others. 

  • Pinpoint the archetypal stories of other people, so you can strengthen relationships and set better boundaries.

  • Form a new relationship with yourself, so you can feel more at peace.

What to expect:

  • Call 1: Why Archetypes Matter

    You will understand what archetypes are and why they are important in order to create a new and lasting relationship with your own personal archetypes in the coming weeks.

  • Call 2: Living In “The Dream”

    We will define “The Dream” according to the Toltecs and identify patterns of beliefs.

  • Call 3: “The Parasite” Part 1

    We will introduce the Victim and the Judge (Rule Keeper) archetypes and their parasitic relationship. Learn why they are essential in helping to structure your mind and regulate your thoughts.

  • Call 4: "The Parasite" Part 2

    Dive deeper into understanding the parasitic dynamic between the Victim and the Judge archetypes.

  • Call 5: Bring Your Burning Questions

    We will focus on answering all the questions and revelations that have come up as you have engaged with your Victim and Judge.

  • Call 6: The Rules You Live By

    You will learn how to listen to and engage the Victim and Judge archetypes for yourself and extract “The Rules” you have lived by since childhood.

  • Call 7: The Wise Adult

    Get to know the Wise Adult archetype, its purpose in your life, and how it can stop the circular chatter between the Victim and the Judge.

  • Call 8: Waking From “The Dream”.

    In our last call, we will review what life is like for you now that you have a new relationship with your archetypes. We will also discuss how to move forward with this knowledge.

Hi, I’m Denise

I’ve been a therapist for 20 years, an artist all of my life, I was born into a family of activists, and my life’s calling is to guide folks in their healing journeys. I hold a BFA in art and an MA in art therapy. The convergence of all of these identities have lead me to be of service to changemakers as an intuitive guide.

I’ve worked hard to heal from the emotional toll of my childhood traumas and the tumultuous journeys through my internal underworld where I met and wrestled with depression, anxiety, and ancestral wounds. As I spiraled in and out of my life’s labyrinths, I’ve met many teachers, mentors, and guides.

My own experience and healing have allowed me to work with patients in psychiatric hospitals, adults and adolescents in emotional crisis, the elderly, folks battling addiction, cancer patients receiving chemo, postpartum mothers, midwives, public servants, humanitarians, and artists of all kinds.

My wisdom and experience come from western psychology, art, motherhood, as well as my Andean culture, my ancestors, and my adopted African spirituality and initiation to the Orisha Oshun.

Changemakers have gravitated towards my guidance for as long as I have had the gift of deep listening. Changemakers' lives are filled with Hero’s-Journey stories, traversing the underworld and rising back up from the ashes transformed. I meet them at the threshold of their identity crisis and provide my skills as an existential detective. I dedicate myself to be their mirror of deep reflection to assist in gathering the scattered pieces of themselves as they descend and ascend, help them decode the symbols on the doorways of the thresholds they cross, and guide them in creating a map of the terrain they walked, ran, and crawled through to bring them back home.

Changemaker, I am here to help YOU integrate with YOUR life stories, help YOU gain grounded self-confidence, and be an active witness as YOU align with and reaffirm YOUR chosen life path. My goal is to bring you closer to becoming the wise elder your ancestors dreamed of for your family, your community, and the world. Not by giving you more tasks “to do” (as our toxic productivity-first culture promotes), but by being deeply seen as you are today. Let’s put that symbolic oxygen mask on you for a change.

Thank you for giving my story your time and attention.

  • “ I dedicate myself to be your mirror of deep reflection to assist in gathering the scattered pieces of yourself as you descend and ascend, help you decode the symbols on the doorways of the thresholds you cross, and guide you in creating a map of the terrain you have walked, ran, and crawled through to bring you back home.”

    Denise

  • “I have yet to come in to contact with someone as dedicated to and as effective in lending the much-needed support healers themselves need. My experience with Denise altered the course of my understanding of my life calling and helped me identify, define, and later articulate the multi-tiered services that I lend today to my clients.”

    Healer

  • “Working with Denise helped me to embrace and integrate my emotional self and to deal more lovingly with myself.  I feel more whole now, and I'm able to bring that wholeness to my art, my family, and all that I relate to.”

    Artist

LOGISTICS:

We will meet 1:1 via Zoom.

Once you sign up we will schedule an introductory 15-min chat.

We will meet weekly for 8 weeks.

All calls are 1 hour.

Bring a curious and open heart to our calls. A notebook is also encouraged.

Investment

$1200; pricing plans and scholarships available.

Buddy System

If you have an accountability buddy(s), invite them to join the program with you.Split the cost with your buddy(s).

Dates and times

We will meet weekly and set your customized schedule.