Aliza Solomon just joined CTC in 2022, and we are glad to have her on board.  As a professional, Aliza is a board-certified in Dance/Movement Therapist (BC-DMT) and is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

She earned her M.A degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago in 2018 and prior to that attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she earned her B.S. in Dance.

Here is a recent interview with did with CTC’s newest therapist:

Why are you joining CTC?
I am joining CTC to be part of a community of like-minded therapists who believe in the importance of nurturing the connection between the mind, body, and spirit. I am excited to meet the therapists and staff, to learn from and inspire one another to grow into our truth and authenticity. I am excited to be challenged and to feel at home.

How do you describe who you work with and how you practice?
I enjoy working with individuals, couples, and families of all ages. Through my work in schools, I have developed a passion for supporting parents and couples as they navigate changing family and relationship dynamics. I love working with movers, including folks who have a current or historic movement practice (dance, performance, yoga, sports, etc.) to those who are curious about strengthening their mind, body, spirit connection through movement. I also enjoy supporting clients who move through grief, as well as those who are exploring their gender identity and sexuality.

As a therapist, I am a collaborative partner who moves with clients through fear and vulnerability toward growth and self-love. I strive to meet clients with creativity, empathy, and encouragement. I incorporate dance/movement therapy and mindfulness techniques throughout the therapeutic process to support clients in deepening the connection and alignment of their inner and outer experiences.

Who do you work with? List your specific areas of interest.
Adults, older adults, children ages 5-12, adolescents (11-17), emerging adults (17-24). Relationships (Couples/Relational Work), Relationships (Parent-Child, Siblings, Family Therapy). LGBTQIA+, perfectionists and creatives, parents, eating concerns, young children. Movers, creatives, teens, new parents, couples, folks exploring their spirituality, folks exploring their gender identity and sexuality.

What do you do for your own self-care?
I love the woods, and often do walks and hiking, as well as improvisational dance, yoga, meditation, cooking, naps with my dog Rufus, long showers, therapy, and spending time with friends and family

What specific modalities do you practice and are you certified?
I use an integrative therapeutic style that fuses dance/movement therapy, humanistic psychology, relational psychotherapy, and other practices such as mindfulness meditation and yoga.

What do you like to do when you are not working? What do you do for fun?
I love trying new restaurants and breweries with my husband or a few friends. I like taking my dog for long walks in nature. I love grabbing an AirBnB for a weekend and exploring a new town or city. And lately I’ve been spending as much time as possible with my nephew Reuben who will be 1 year old in April 🙂

List some favorite podcasts, books or blogs.
Favorite podcasts include We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle. Enneagram 2.0 with Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes. No favorite book comes to mind but I recently read My Grandmother’s Hands and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and loved both.

What are you excited about? What is your passion? What do you want to learn more about?
I’m currently excited about exploring the intersections between dance/movement therapy and other trauma-informed modalities. I am passionate about helping clients drop into their bodies with curiosity, self-compassion and safety to learn more about their truth and their relationships. I want to learn more about Somatic Experiencing, NARM, IFS and EMDR. I also want to do an introductory training of the Enneagram for my personal growth and learn how to incorporate the richness of its framework into my therapeutic style.

What is your favorite quote?
“In letting go of wanting something special to occur, maybe we can realize something special is already occurring.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” ~Fred Rogers