A note from Kat about the the name of her practice:
In 2007 I opened the Four Aims Center for Mind-Body Therapy, a West Seattle resource that offered counseling and classes blending the wisdom and healing modalities from both Western and Eastern traditions. The name of the center was inspired by perennial wisdom teachings from ancient India known as The Vedas (“knowledge”). These Four Aims, as relevant today as back then, are four major motivations and goals shared by all humans, and together they comprise cornerstones for the health, prosperity and peace of individuals, their families and their communities.
Creating deep, healthy connections, reducing suffering by examining and shifting dysfunctional patterns, and Expanding the View to include other’s happiness in your own quest for happiness, are the chief intentions of my practice. To that end, the Four Aims are a reference and point of focus in helping to develop greater insight, compassion, resiliency, self-soothing skills, basis for choice, and healthy behaviors.
I have interpreted the Four Aims to include an emphasis on what seems to be most relevant in our modern age. It is a good practice to regularly examine how much time or energy you are expending in any of these four areas, and if out of balance, use this model to help you remember what’s important.
Four Aims
Dharma-Relationship
In referring to Dharma, the Natural Order of the Universe, this aim historically has looked to one’s Duty to self, family, partner, work, friends and community, and how to best serve our interconnectedness. Good questions to ask oneself: What are the essential qualities that I bring to various relationships? How do I show up for myself and others? What is problematic in the way I see myself or how I inter-relate? What am I doing that actually works well? What do I know about myself that creates distance in relationship? How do I feel about emotional intimacy, and am I able to create/sustain emotional connections?
Knowing that you, as all humans, have blind-spots, are you open to receiving feedback in order to create the relationships you yearn for?… What I offer in my practice includes a way for individuals, couples and groups to explore various conversational, body-oriented and therapeutic models, and the chance to be in community through workshops, retreats, and yoga classes.
Artha-Livelihood-Wealth
This aim focuses on how one deals with career, money, success and power. Finding a way to support ourselves without being at odds with our moral code is extremely important, and counseling can be a way to examine and appreciate the possibilities for one’s life.
Kama-Sex-Nourishment
Few of us undertake a truly conscious journey of the creative, sensual or sexual, and due to how easily abused this path is by so many, it’s easy to understand why. Learning how to nourish oneself and experience enjoyment without over-indulgence, and learning to embrace life’s bounty is an exhilarating practice! Getting in touch with your creativity, deepening your relationship with your own sexuality, partaking of the arts, and opening up to new attitudes and experiences, is essential food for the soul. I work with many individuals and couples in this arena.
Moksha-Peace
Self-realization, ‘liberation,” and consciousness practice are philosophical terms meant to describe a very simple experience– the great stillness and expansiveness that is the Ground of Reality, which is also referred to as our True Self. I utilize methods of meditation, inquiry, contemplation and ritual to help clients explore and strengthen their connection to what is sacred to them.