Bella Lurie

I am a psychotherapist, a meditation teacher, and an amateur naturalist. In my home country, I am licensed to conduct learning disability evaluations. My upbringing was first-hand impacted by three very different languages and cultures. These cultures informed the style of my relationships and my aesthetic preferences. For as long as I can remember, I have been mystified by human memory functioning, first as a scientist, then as a meditator. Having gone a long way from trying to remember everything I deemed worth remembering to a more effortless and drama-free attitude toward memory-creating moments, I am still making sense of what it means to integrate each moment of life as it unfolds. Approaching this subject experientially and relationally informs who I am as a practitioner and as a person.

If topics like your cognitive functioning, memory, and focus make your curiosity antennas hum, this is a place for you.

I usually work with people who are drawn to an idea of self-observation. According to a rich variety of spiritual traditions, all major setbacks in life can be "solved" by a particular attitude towards these setbacks and the person experiencing them. As a long-time self-observer and practitioner of various meditation practices, I enjoy helping people develop a practical understanding of the connection between self-observation and the feeling of "everything is ok with me". Nonjudgmental listening and cognitive-emotional empathy are sure to be the staples of my work, so I pay close attention to how my clients are ready to serve their own best interests. To anyone interested, I offer in-person Rosen bodywork sessions (held at Dharma College, Berkeley) - a valuable asset for learning to relax and attune to the subtle layers of experience. The work of collaborative self-observation is enjoyable and creative. It encompasses many life-affirming attitudes and healing modalities, creating circumstances in which, regardless of the type of setbacks and difficulties you are experiencing, you can choose not to return to the way you currently conceptualize your problems and victories.

Ideally, each session should bring a sense of relaxation and respite. Even though our circumstances look different on the surface, there are more similarities between our difficulties than we can imagine. Work-related difficulties of one person may have a common basis with intimacy issues of another. It is the details of each particular story that make the story worth telling. Similarly, it is the details of each particular session that make it possible to abandon one set of difficulties and move to the next one. I am looking forward to sharing with you all the possible details of my approach to healing.