John Amodeo, Ph.D., LMFT, has been a licensed marriage and family therapist for over 45 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds graduate degrees in both Clinical and Transpersonal Psychology. He is the author of five books, including his most recent, The Power of Gentle Presence: Insights for Inner Peace and Deeper Relationships. His previous book, Dancing with Fire: A Mindful Way to Loving Relationships, received a Spirituality & Practice Award as one of the best spiritual books of 2013. He co-authored a chapter with Dr. Sue Johnson on EFT and Buddhism in The Emotionally Focused Casebook and contributed a chapter to The Theory and Practice of Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy. John is a certified Focusing Trainer and certified Focusing-Oriented Therapist. He has lectured and led workshops internationally, including at universities in Hong Kong, Chile, Thailand, and Ukraine. A writer and contributing editor for Yoga Journal for ten years, he has appeared on numerous media programs, including CNN, Donahue, NPR, and New Dimensions Radio.  

Many of our clients meditate or are influenced by spiritual teachings. But does their spiritual path foster greater aliveness, authenticity, and connection—or does it sometimes distance them from their feelings, needs, and relationships?

Drawing on John's latest book, The Power of Gentle Presence: Insights for Inner Peace and Deeper Relationships, as well as his chapter on EFT and Buddhism, co-authored with Dr. Sue Johnson in The Emotionally Focused Casebook, this workshop explores how spirituality can deepen therapeutic presence while examining the pitfalls that arise when clients' spiritual beliefs or practices become disconnected from their emotional lives.

Integrating mindfulness with attachment theory, we'll explore the importance of honoring and embracing our feelings and sacred longings rather than bypassing or minimizing them. We'll examine how secure attachment provides a foundation for genuine freedom rather than an obstacle to it, and how an emotionally healthy spirituality deepens intimacy rather than fostering isolation or emotional disconnection.

We'll also explore how the therapist's embodied presence helps create the relational safety that allows clients to engage more deeply with their inner experience. Somatic approaches to psychotherapy, especially Focusing, illustrate how mindfulness can be brought into direct relationship with emotional experience, fostering greater authenticity, compassion, and connection.

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how presence, mindfulness, attachment theory, and spiritually informed psychotherapy can enrich the clinical work they already do.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:  

• Identify the concept of spiritual bypassing and recognize describe how clients may use spiritual beliefs or practices to defensively avoid difficult emotions.
• Explain how spiritually informed mindfulness can help clients embrace their feelings and longings as an integral part of emotional and spiritual growth.
• Describe two ways how Focusing, as a somatic component of mindfulness, can help clients engage difficult emotions in ways that deepen emotional awareness, foster self-compassion, and strengthen authentic relationships