Shadow Work as Clinical Intervention
Presented by
Dreya Blume, LCSWPerfect for clinicians at any stage of their career, this workshop will deepen your practice, enhance your self-awareness, and empower you to guide clients in their journey toward wholeness.
Overview
6 CEs Health Equity, or Cultural Competence Recorded: Winter, 2025
In every therapeutic relationship, Carl Jung’s concept of the shadow—the hidden, often unconscious parts of ourselves—shapes both the client’s challenges and the clinician’s approach.
This workshop is designed to equip psychotherapists with practical tools and theoretical insights to incorporate shadow work into clinical practice. Through interactive discussions and experiential exercises, participants will learn to identify and work with the hidden aspects of the psyche that influence behavior, emotional patterns, and relational dynamics. Whether it’s uncovering a client’s repressed fears or recognizing your own countertransference, this workshop provides a compassionate, evidence-informed framework for exploring the shadow self as a pathway to healing and integration.
Clinicians will leave with a deeper understanding of how to help clients embrace their hidden selves, transforming shame, fear, and denial into growth and self-awareness. We’ll also examine the therapist’s role in navigating their own shadow, fostering greater authenticity and presence in the therapeutic space.
Perfect for clinicians at any stage of their career, this workshop will deepen your practice, enhance your self-awareness, and empower you to guide clients in their journey toward wholeness.
Please join me in exploring the shadow, where profound healing and transformation begin. This will be an experiential workshop, with journaling and small-group discussion. Please be sure to have a notebook on hand.
Objectives:
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
Discuss the historical development of the concept of the shadow as well as shadow work in the field of psychology Identify the importance of shadow work in client healing Define shadow work and its role for both clinician and client wellness Gain competency in introducing shadow work to clients Identify the connections between a client’s presenting issues and their unconscious patterns that may be sabotaging their efforts at healing Discuss various strategies and interventions which the client can utilize in order to explore and understand their shadow
About the Presenter
Dreya Blume (she/her) is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, author, and educator. Dreya began working in the mental health field in 2004 in southwest Virginia, where she spent almost two decades serving the local transgender community as a gender therapist. She recently moved to Durham, NC, where she focuses on offering continuing education training to therapists and coaching for private practice clinicians who want to expand their business uniquely. Dreya loves to write and is the author of several books, including, “The Tarot Activity Book: A Collection of Creative and Therapeutic Ideas for the Cards,” “Journaling the Tarot,” “Everyone Has a Story: Using the Hero’s Journey and Narrative Therapy to Reframe the Struggle of Mental Illness,” and “Tarot for Transformation: Using the Major Arcana to Discover Your Best Self and Create a Life Worth Living.” All of Dreya’s books (under her former name, Andy Matzner) are available here: https://dreyablume.com/books. Dreya is also passionate about teaching. Before becoming a mental health clinician, she spent many years teaching English as a Second Language in places such as Japan, Australia, Thailand, and Hawaii. Once in Virginia, Dreya worked as an adjunct professor for almost twenty years at Hollins University, teaching gender studies and sociology in their Master of Liberal Studies program. In addition, she spent twelve years teaching future social workers in the human services program at Virginia Western Community College. Learn more about Dreya on her website: https://dreyablume.com/.