“Like a plant which from a seed becomes and Oak tree, so humans become what we are meant to be…but we get stuck.”
- Carl Jung
There are chapters in the story of my life; times, places, and people who have shared the experiences of living life. Each chapter with an ending, a time to move on. The people who have remained close to me throughout the journey are few. No one alive has been there from the early days, jumping lily pads with me or tracking the course my life has taken. It is OK. I have relished the solitary arch of my life as much as the heartfelt connections with those I have come to love along the way.
My profession has given me a deep connection to humanity, individual versions of the painful challenges that come with living life. I have lived alone, together. Here, I have created a website that exposes some of the story of who I am. I am sharing my art, my writings and my photos, expressions of myself from different times of my life. While I advocate for living from the inside out (see the title of my book), in this website I choose to share myself from the outside, what can be seen in my art work since the 80’s, photography from my traveling experiences, and different kinds of writings I have done over the years. All to share more of myself, more of my whole, true self..
Douglas W. Holwerda
It comes with the realization that mortality has its way and someday I will no longer have the opportunity to share life with others. It also comes from my desire to bring the parts together. The chapters make a story. I want all those who shared a part of my life to see a bit more, to know that I have continued onward, and have been playful along the way. I am still a beginner and this website and book are something new. I am interested to know what set of possibilities will come from sharing my life as it is, as I am. Here I will have a place to channel generative possibilities, new ideas, art, photos, videos, and written words which seem to flow when I am out of my way. Possibility feels light and bright, not from avoiding the dark and painful, but rather from overcoming what is difficult. Obstacles and limitations do not keep me from the freedoms that are mine and ours, individually and collectively. I have a lot more to say about that in the book, Living From the Inside Out. You can access it on one of the webpages .
Writing is the biggest part of the chapter I am in, although it seems to come at a time when, for many, reading is being replaced by watching and listening. I hope to find ways with visual mediums of communication as well, to share these ideas.
This website provides for me a piece of scratched and shiny metal, shiny enough to see myself, yet distorted by the imperfections and flaws that come along with even trying to look too closely or too much. I can only ever offer a taste, and never a meal, a glimpse and never a sustained look, a part and never the unfinished whole. I only want to see that I include my heart, and my naivety and my aging vulnerabilities, along with the accidental successes that have come from letting myself live as fully as I have known how.
When I speak or write with a clear voice it is because it has worked its way out of the fog on my mind. When I arrive at the end with a painting I enjoy, it is from having playfully wrestled with what I did not like. When I dare to feel good about myself and the life I have lived, it is because I have faced the difficulties and continued to learn and grow.
While the dysfunctions in the world are ever more apparent, I live within the domain which is mine and let it expand as it will. Love is an aspiration in everything I do, albeit limited by all that which limits me. I suspect that Love is not mine to give, but rather that which we can align with. We can live in Love, allow it in, participate in what it does, share it as we share life itself… by the experience of living fully..
PSYCHOTHERAPIST
In October of 2019, after 20+ years practicing as a psychotherapist (mental health counselor), I reduced my therapy practice and re-focused my primary work on the clinical supervision of less experienced psychotherapists. I offer a weekly mentorship program for Vietnamese psychotherapists and have also been offering support to Vietnamese students who are interested in gaining a degree in Counseling Psychology in order to practice as psychotherapists in the future. I am an international consultant with the Vietnamese Psychotherapy Association.
I have also been writing a book entitled Living From the Inside Out which was published last 2023. My book is a self-therapy guide, teaching how self-knowledge and awareness can increase self-acceptance and empowerment.
I gained my master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University in Seattle, Washington and has worked as a psychotherapist since 1996. I have been practicing in Hanoi, Vietnam, since 2011. Prior to that I was a teacher. My early experience as a psychotherapist was with issues of abuse and trauma, specifically, adults who had experienced childhood sexual abuse. I have also worked extensively with teens in a teen health center in Seattle, Washington.
In Vietnam, I have had a full practice seeing English speaking clients, adults and teens above the age of 12, many of whom are living abroad. I have also seen an increased number of English-speaking Vietnamese clients. I have offered therapy for people who are dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship problems, anger, cultural adjustment, midlife, as well as existential questions of meaning and purpose. I have seen how therapy is a process which brings about a relief from suffering through self-discovery and acceptance.
My methods of practicing psychotherapy have been influenced early by person-centered, existential and insight-based approaches. More recently, I have integrated CBT, behavior activization, and motivational interviewing as pragmatic and skill-based approaches of support.
I know that in a safe and confidential environment people can look more deeply into themselves, and, with support, face painful truths that we might otherwise be avoiding. It is by facing the unresolved aspects of the past that allows clients to move on in life, to embrace more of life in the present. I have seen the quality of life improve for many clients he has worked with over the years, witnessing personal growth and a new-found freedom to live life more fully.
