Allan Schnarr, M.Div., PhD.
I am a licensed clinical psychologist with training in spirituality. I have been a psychotherapist since 1983, and Coordinator of an internship for therapists interested in integrating spirituality and psychotherapy at Claret Center in Hyde Park since 1985. I have also been in the position of Associate Faculty of the Graduate School at Loyola, Chicago and teaching at Loyola's Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS) since 1983. My courses are in emotional awareness and relational skills. I have been married since 1979 and have one adult daughter.
My life purpose and teaching are focused on embodied psychospirituality. My devotion to the sacredness of the body comes out of my own journey. I have been a faithful student of Yoga and/or Tai Chi since 1975. I also spent fifteen years invested in a personal healing journey through Reichian bodywork. Out of this comes my commitment to the body centered awareness in the present moment, and to the emotional truth in relationships.
I am committed to supporting clients in experiential learning, encouraging the use of interactive imagery, mindfulness, meditation, self-reflection, relational immediacy, and journaling to this end. My gift is to help others clarify awareness, deepen self-understanding, and make conscious choices to claim the uniqueness and appreciate the commonality of their path. I work with adults, both couples and individuals.
I thoroughly enjoy working with students who have a dedication to the embodied truth in their lives. As a teacher, I do some lecturing, but am primarily committed to supporting students in experiential learning. I think of myself as offering lenses for looking at and finding the truth of one's inner knowing. In all my work with students, I use guided imagery, mindfulness, movement meditation, self-reflection, personal interaction, and journaling to experientially ground the learning. The input I offer is theoretically brief and personally rich. I use theory only to provide lenses for self-understanding. I offer disclosure of my own life experience to encourage safety and nourish courage. I have no interest in being the expert. My gift is to help others clarify awareness, deepen understanding, and make conscious choices to claim the uniqueness and appreciate the commonality of their path.
From my commitment to embodied truth comes the freedom to create. I have been writing poetry, articles and books since the late seventies. I use visual arts to support the process of discovery, and to make challenging concepts more accessible to students and readers.
“I am dedicated to my own well being;
Therein, I form relationships with people;
I learn with them what could improve our lives;
and then I offer this wisdom to those who are searching for it.”