River A. Dowdy
NCC, Pending-PLPC, Master of Science in Clinical Counseling from Central Methodist University, Drama Therapy Alternative Training Student, Developmental Transformations Advanced Level 1, Neuro-psych Enthusiast, Eclectic Creative Sandtray Projective Weaver.
I am a human, a recovering perfectionist, a storyteller, a witness, a healer, and a creator.
My superpower is creating meaning and connection internally and externally, often with the most unlikely supplies. I have been studying and practicing a form of drama therapy called Developmental Transformations, DvT, for several years and in it I have found freedom, healing, and hope for myself and for others. Due to the pandemic, I have found creative ways to continue this work online utilizing a custom and ever-changing web-based interface I created called The Sand Brain Portal.
As a new PLPC and drama therapist in St. Louis, I bring a unique fusion of body and movement-based therapies (DvT), a sprinkle of play, elements from sandtray, and internal family systems tied together with creative arts interventions and the internet. I help other humans create, reveal, explore, become, transform and heal from trauma.
Together we can find ways to make it safe enough to slow down, begin to heal, and foster hope that there is more to life than pain and repeating patterns.
I’m currently in private practice at Emovere, LLC. I am accepting new clients. Feel free to contact me for a free 15-minute virtual conversation to see if we might be a good fit.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Once…..
there was a pandemic that shocked the world by its ruthlessness.
And now…. Who knows what’s next.
As we all feel this out together, I am reminded of Randy McCommons’ words:
Repetition with variation is at the heart of the work.
Return here when lost.
Notice, Feel, Animate, Express is the heart of the work.
Return here when lost.
The body is the heart of the work.
Return here when lost.
The playful relationship is the heart of the work.
Return here when lost.
If you don’t think you are lost, you are definitely lost,
but just don’t know it yet.
-Randy McCommons
Hi, I’m River. - Video
Your Sailboat Body -Video
“I guess all I can do is embrace the pandemonium, find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.”
-Eleanore Shellstrop, ‘The Good Place’
The Journey to Here.
Just a little story.
I am one who is animated and able to adapt.
I am one who is courageous.
I am one who is a leader but also a member of a creative pride.
I am one who can weather harsh climates.
I am one who can play and slide.
I am one who can fit into tight spaces.
I am one who is filled with stories.
I am one who can play many parts.
I am one who is brave.
In my office downtown, I only used my sandtray as a bridge from the chair or floor- from talking only- to the embodied drama therapy, individual DvT- a kind of creative improvisational role-play. The sand was a great way to help transition, a great way to externalize stories, to project, to play with different endings, different players, taking away things, adding things, discovering the meanings that were derived and adopted from these past experiences. I knew that I could translate a lot of my drama therapy training into the sand, but there are so many barriers.
From the back nook in my closet, I slowly started considering how I could make this work. Part of the magic of sandtray is its ability to access the subconscious by letting clients peruse the collection of items I have and place them in the sandtray themselves. I knew some clinicians were using virtual programs or even the whiteboard feature on Zoom to substitute the use of a tray and bypass all the challenges of making miniatures accessible. But that felt flat to me, I wanted to do more.
In August 2020, like many others facing yet another semester through a screen, I felt anxious and scared. While I was in my final year of the clinical counseling program at Central Methodist University focusing on traditional forms of talk therapy, my best skills, my most comfortable and attuned skills are all embodied.
I needed the energy in the air and the full scope of visibility to notice all the nuances of body language. I have become so accustomed to tuning into my body as my most powerful tool for noticing. Notice the other, myself, the feelings and sensations churning inside me during the encounter and trusting it to guide my next move. So much of this felt stripped away by screens and miles apart, sometimes states apart, and occasionally continents apart- to be frank, we might as well be on different planets.
In DvT there is a concept of edges, the edges being where we are growing, what’s not yet comfortable or fully playable.
All my edges:
Like most humans, I’m still learning to not just tolerate uncertainty but to accept it as
How do I do this now?
How do I make this work?
How do I shift to access embodiment again?
How do I shift to tap into the neuroscience of bypassing the cortex and heading inside, deep down?What is therapeutic DvT play vs. just messing around with a webcam online?
How do you notice the nuances of body language that subconsciously communicate things that are not always said (leakage) when you can’t see most of the other person’s body?
How do you track on a screen? in 2D?
How do you co-regulate through a screen?
How do you do all the things that take being physically with other people's bodies (proximity) when being with other people in person is not possible?
Is it enough to notice what is happening in our bodies and see the things in the sand, see the stories in the sand, see the play in the sand.
Is it enough to talk to and about the images that are created?
How do I get site supervisors that are not working from an embodied lens to support and encourage this exploration and … innovation?
How do I incorporate sound and movement from the tiny space I have?
How do I bypass access issues like bad internet connection, no laptops, and no privacy?
How do I keep myself from becoming paralyzed by my own fear and unable to take risks or try new things?
Powerful Work - Continuously Changing
Every day I am in awe of the resiliency and adaptiveness that has allowed for powerful work that happens through a screen, in the sand, in bodies, and in lives.