Introducing Jamie: Bringing Compassionate Mental Health to The Buddha's Medicine
Dr. Matt & Jamie
I’d like to dedicate this post to our new (at the time of writing) mental health therapist at our practice: Jamie Van Auken, MA, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, E-RYT 500. Jamie happens to be my spouse - hence the shared last name - and there are so many good things I could share about her as a spouse, a mother, and a companion. But I’d like to focus instead on her skillset as a therapist, because that’s her role with the practice, and because she is incredible in that role. She calls her work Path with Heart Therapy, and she works exclusively with us at The Buddha’s Medicine.
Before we talk about Jamie and her work directly, though, I’d like to go a bit indirect.
There are a whole host of myths about the origins of Ayurveda out there. All of them have something to teach us about at least one core tenet of health and healing. Each of them is allegorical, and none need be taken literally. Most are similar to each other in some way, but some stand out to me more than others.
Here’s one of my favorites:
One of Vishnu’s roles is to incarnate at various times and in a variety of forms to support and sustain humanity and the planet we live on. During one impactful incarnation (avatara) some thousands of years ago, Vishnu shows up as the physician Dhanvantari, and brings the medical system of Ayurveda from the realm of the devas (shining ones, or god-like entities) to humanity. His efforts prove wildly successful, and he cures a ton of disease, and a lot of people are happy. And then Dhanvantari passes on, and Vishnu returns to being Vishnu in the realm of the devas. And everyone lives happily ever after.
For at least a year or two.
Because then humanity realizes that they are making themselves sick anew. They are making themselves sick because they are thinking and behaving in harmful ways. Rage, fear, greed, egoism, jealousy, excessive attachment, covetousness and more are running amok. All of those vices are causing the people to become ill yet again, sometimes in ways that were worse than before.
So the sages of that era, who acted as emissaries going between the people on earth and the devas in their realm (yes, they evidently had the power to do that), go to Vishnu. And they basically say to Vishnu, “hey… so thanks for coming around as Dhanvantari and bringing Ayurveda to us. Cured a lot of disease - really good stuff. And now we have a different problem. Humanity is making themselves sick through the power of the mind.”
Then Vishnu looks at his buddy and devotee, Adishesha (the serpent demigod), and basically says, “your turn!” So adishesha incarnates as a demi-serpent man into the palms of an aging yogini named Gonika as she is offering alms at the river. This is fortuitous for Monika, who had no students to pass on her wisdom to, and no children. She calls him “Patanjali,” because he “fell” (pata) into her gesture of offering (anjali). Patanjali then goes on to author treatises on Sanskrit grammar, Ayurveda, and - most notably for this blog post, because this is about mental health therapy - the Yoga Sutra. The Yoga Sutra is a text that encapsulates the core tenets of psychology and psychological self-care through the lens of yoga, in a very interesting grammatical style.
Now, of course, this story is myth. But the Yoga Sutra is a real text, and it points readers and students of its contents toward psychological health and liberation.
And that is precisely what Jamie’s work brings to our growing practice!
Jamie’s jam is nervous system awareness and safety - first, knowing what your nervous system’s bandwidth and capacity is in the moment. She brings regulation and grounding through mindfulness, body-based techniques, nature-based work, and more. And once you are regulated and feel safe, the work can begin at deeper layers.
Whether you’re navigating depression and/or anxiety, or working through burnout, or struggling with trauma; whether you’re trying to figure out how your neurodiverse brain works or how it fits into a world that is distinctly different than you are; whether you’re sorting out challenges or celebrating strengths in relationships; whether you’re navigating burnout and figuring out where life changes need to occur; whether you’ve experienced a major transition in life (like becoming a parent for the first time, or again) or a shift in your identity; whether you’re healing an eating disorder; or whether you’re a parent needing support with kids of all shapes and sizes (including the neurosparkly ones - we have two of them at home!), Jamie has something awesome for your psyche.
She can move with you into somatic EMDR, internal family systems (IFS), and relational modalities. She can work with you one-on-one, or in couples systems, or in larger family systems.
Jamie has a many years-long background as a yoga instructor, an eating disorder recovery advocate, and a professional figure skater (Torino Winter Olympics 2006, even!). And on a personal note, she’s a stellar mother and fantastic partner.
And she brings and shares all of that skill and experience with compassion, thoughtfulness, care, presence, patience, and just the right amount of wit and humor.
If you’re a patient of mine (or thinking about becoming one) and wish to work with Jamie - or vice-versa - Jamie and I can bring our skill sets together. We have the ability collaborate on your care directly, bringing into being a synergy of Ayurvedic and integrative medical care and whole nervous system mental health.
And if where you’re at is working with one of us solo, because that’s what you need right now, then we’re thrilled to support that, too. We know how to work together (and we do so every day in raising kids), but we’re also skilled independent workers.
Jamie brings the promise of Patanjali’s work on psychological healing and freedom into the present day. And truly, there is no complete healing without addressing the nervous system and mental health. If you’ve got stuff on your mind, book a free Zoom consultation with her. You won’t regret a moment of it.
Dr. Matt Van Auken, MD, MPH
Dr. Matt is an Ayurveda-trained, triple board-certified physician.
