MEET GRETTA & BILL

As a psychoanalyst and a psychologist, we have developed our own approach to traditional talk therapy techniques incorporating a mindfulness perspective and specific tools that we teach and use in all our sessions.

Our experience as professional artists – writing, illustrating, performing and composing – informs our work. Creative and playful symbolic expression allows clients to uncover and process his or her deepest emotions and experience new ways of perceiving and being.

We teach workshops and seminars and are training supervisors. Our work is shaped by our extensive background in a variety of psychological approaches, our immersion in creative and dramatic arts, and our journey on the mindful path.

 
 

Gretta Keene, LCSW, CST

Gretta is a certified psychoanalyst as well as a sandplay and EMDR practitioner. She has worked extensively with children and adults who have suffered sudden or chronic traumas. As a practicing artist and meditator, she works with clients seeking to identify and actualize their inherent potential.

 

 
 

Bill Murray, PhD

Bill is a clinical psychologist specializing in relationship counseling and the mindfulness-focused  treatment of anxiety issues. He is a certified EMDR and sandplay practitioner. Bill is adept at holding a space of compassionate respect for those who embark on the journey of insight and transformation.

 

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From Gretta & Bill's Instagram...

Lying in bed before drifting off to sleep, the animation plays in my mind. It unfolds and flows--simple, clear, beautiful. The next morning, drawing frame by frame--24 per second--I encounter technical challenges, the characters look stiff, I realize that there are gaps in the story line. Primrose path, meet bloody knuckles. . Our lives are poems. We dream and we do. Hours are like iambs--only so many to work with in a day, in a line. And manifesting our visions within the limitations of space and time, of our bodies and our brains, is a challenging arithmetic. It is the art of living along the hard--and satisfying--ways to the stars. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #poetry #artofliving #quoteoftheday #carlsandberg
There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk. ~Jean-Paul Sartre . 4:45. Summer solstice dawn. Quickly dressing, I headed to the park with Gandhi the poodle, and saw an enormous crescent moon and brilliant Venus in the prussian blue sky. The air smelled of blooming linden trees and white clover. My shoes were soon wet with dew as a strode across the empty fields heading into a volcano of colors as the kaleidescoping hues of alizarin crimson, cobalt, turquoise and cadmium yellow morphed over the hunter’s green grass. Poodle and I sat on the hill under one of my favorite oaks and waited for the sun to emerge over the distant trees. Bullfrogs from the pond made their comments along with a few car horns above the distant but discernible continual city rumble and whoosh of subway and traffic. I felt the heaviness in my heart and understood it to be not just the wearing worries for a world at risk, but this enormous, aching love for the this small blue-green planet orbiting its fiery star. . Tears came as a complicated mix of gratitude for this life, this day and the bounty of love I have for and from the people in my life and the knowledge that, like the fast moving colors in the sky, all was constantly changing, emerging and disappearing. I quietly sang snippets of songs. “Here Comes the Sun” turned into the lilting Donovan tune, “Happiness runs is a circular motion, thought is like a little boat upon the sea. Everybody is a part of everything, anyway. You can have everything if you let yourself be.” Poodle leaned against my knee. “I love my life,” I thought. I love my work. I love my husband and my children and my friends. I love this world so much!” I came home to homemade fishcakes and a kiss. Summer solstice. A new day begins. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #photooftheday #solstice #sunrise #jeanpaulsartre
We love kayaking in the early morning and often get up while it's still dark just to be on the water for dawn when it's usually still and serene, water reflecting leaf and sky in perfect detail. We don't talk as we pull on our spray skirts and pfds, silently launch and glide onto the lake or the bay, so I'm still in a semi-dream state that matches and is enhanced by the just-waking world all around me. It certainly feels like peace is seeping in from the serenity without, so what's the Buddha talking about? . He's talking about what happens when I see a beer can caught in the lily pads, when I drop my water bottle and it sinks out of reach, when a deer fly takes a bite out of my hand, when Gretta says something that I can't quite hear and I have to decide whether I'm going to shout back, "What?" or pretend I didn't hear. Even in that Edenic setting, I can get annoyed, bothered, anxious, mad, upset, frustrated, pissed off, cranky, glum, irritated, disturbed, discouraged and discontented. . Conversely, riding a packed subway and swept by the press of strangers up onto the noisy street, I can feel calm, happy and at peace. . Peaceful surroundings are a balm, but the storms that do the most damage (and the ones that can be stilled) are those within. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #kayaking #reflections #photooftheday #inspiringquotes #buddhaquotes #buddha #peace #innerpeace
Sometimes life feels like one frustration after another and disappointments begin to congeal into a story about who or what we are that makes going forward all the harder. Other times, emotional pain can sear the soul blinding us with its intensity. And then there are the chronic worries, those anxieties about the state of our personal world and the world in general. . How can joy be a possibility in times like these? I like the phrase “lean towards joy.” There is an acknowledgment that we may not be feeling what we imagine as a buoyant, bouncing critter dancing and singing: Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!” We may feel more like Eyore, in Winnie the Pooh, considering the benefits of a broken balloon and an empty honey jar as birthday presents. But we can lean in the direction of joy, remember that our interpretation of the moment is a choice that impacts our experience. . I imagine all the people in the world who right this moment are feeling frustrated, discouraged or in pain and feel the connection of that common denominator. With that imagined link, I open my heart to the light-filled energy of the universe--the source of joy--and experience Circles of Compassion uniting me with all past and present who have leaned towards joy in spite of harrowing circumstances. . I am not alone. We are not alone. Breathing in that image, I feel my spirit lift and I notice the simple, tangible joys all around me. Leaning towards joy, colors brighten and my muscles relax. Joy is there waiting to be touched. I am learning; I am leaning. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #quoteoftheday #inspiringquotes #joy #choice #compassion #mariasirois
What does it mean to flourish? The woods around our house are lush green with birds of all colors swooping across our wildflower meadow and pecking at the seeds in our feeders. We have seen rose-breasted grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles, bluebirds, goldfinches, purple finches, cardinals, red-bellied woodpeckers, hummingbirds, a red-tailed hawk, the enormous pileated woodpecker and our little family of wrens nesting in the birdhouse Bill built this winter. Flowers are flourishing as well. Pink peonies, white, wild roses and yellow primroses have burst forth with exuberance. The country road is lined with daisies, purple clover and buttercups. . Our minds are buzzing with all that we are learning, creating, imagining and doing. There are many challenges and surprising twists and turns. Our lives feels like our natural surroundings at Hespera, with organic shifting and transforming unfolding at such a pace that a still shot would not accurately capture any moment. And yet, we pause. Breathe. Smell the flowers. Ring the singing bowl before our meal and take in the abundance, recognize all that is flourishing and bow with gratitude. . Where is there flourishing in your life? . . . . #mindful #mindfulliving #mindfulness #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #flowers #peonies #bouquet #birds #flourishing
We have joked since early on in our relationship that we should write a book titled, First You Meet Your Soulmate, Then It Gets Hard. . What do you do when you are with the person who connects to your mind, heart and body in so many ways and yet is also so very different in disposition, life experience and basic personality? How amazing to find someone who shares similar passions for kayaking, camping, opera, cooking, music, writing, gardening, bird-watching, book-reading and art-making as well as a commitment to understanding and helping to heal human mind and spirit! And how surprising to find that the said person is not you, and often interprets and reacts to situations quite differently than you do. What a shock! . There is an expectation that finding the "perfect" someone means we live happily ever after, and that then there is an end to emotional turmoil. As adults we discover that many of the beliefs we have absorbed from our culture are untrue. Clinging to images of what Should Be renders us incapable of being with the As Is moment and working towards what Could Be. . Being with someone you consider a soulmate doesn’t make it easy, it just means you may be more willing to do the hard work. And we also realize that this work does not require a committed, partnered relationship. Our lives and our connections to all other lives, from the person who serves us coffee to the one we choose as partner, are impacted by the choices we make moment by moment. Change is a gradual process created by the accumulation of each of those choice-filled moments. . In this As Is moment, what choices will lead you in the direction of the values you hold for your relationships? . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #relationships #soulmate #couples
Madness and moonlight are friends. . I remember the evening this photo was taken, overlooking Forked Lake in the Adirondacks, with the scent of spruce and pine distilling in the air as it cooled toward night. It felt like anything was possible—the rising, luminous moon painting a shimmering pathway across the lake, inviting us to walk on water toward abundance greater and more mysterious than any treasure at a rainbow’s end. . Sounds crazy. Because madness and moonlight are friends. . The sun of rationality illumines our conscious minds, promotes logic, technological comprehension and application. The moon of imagination illumines those regions of our minds beyond the limits of consciousness, from which inspiration flows. . It had been a beautiful day. We explored the shores of Forked Lake by kayak and discovered a creek that led us in a winding path past beaver lodge and otter burrow into the forest. The early morning sun turned dewdrops diamond in the thousand thousand spider webs set as airy nets in the marsh grass. We saw the world around us and marveled at its beauty. We talked and ate with friends as the sun set. And then the moon rose, beckoning us to our inner madness—to hear it and let it show. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #moonlight #madness #kayaking #quoteoftheday #photooftheday #allenginsberg
"Mexican or Indian or Italian or Thai?" Seems like a mundane question preceding Sunday night take-out. So mundane that many would answer, "I dunno. You choose." But if choosing means consulting one's inner sense, it's not so mundane and, for many, not so accessible. . The answer to a question like "What do I want?" is complicated because, of course, we want many things. And it's often only through asking such a simple question that we can begin to unpack the Full Spectrum of our thoughts and feelings, impulses and desires, fears and longings. . What do I want? What am I so afraid of? What's the next step? Like stones dropped into a deep well, such questions will bring a response, but we may need to wait quietly and listen carefully. The answers are there; our wise minds are waiting for us to take ourselves seriously, to ask the proper questions, to listen for the unexpected answers, and to act with confidence that transformation will ensue. . . . . #mindful #mindfulliving #mindfulness #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #spiritualtransformation #questions #quoteoftheday #clarissapinkolaestes
It's ancient wisdom: Except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. .  And getting cracked open is today's experience. Here's what I'm learning: When I'm feeling undone, cracked open, falling apart, instead of rushing in with fresh building materials to reinforce my defenses--my old patterns designed to help me stay comfortable--I watch myself. What signs of new life, fresh responses can I discern? Then I allow them to grow. Painful? Yes. Difficult? Well, yes and no. Difficult to restrain the paving crew that wants to fix the cracks, but the new life part just happens. Like a seedling pushing up through the forest floor. . . . . #mindful #mindfulness #mindfulliving #wisdom #wisdomforlife #meditation #healing #newlife #quoteoftheday #photooftheday #cynthiaoccelli
 

OTHER THERAPISTS IN OUR PRACTICE

Catherine Genzler, MA

Douglas Roest, LMSW

Sara Solomon, LMFT