Julie Jewels Smoot

Before the next task. Before the next session. Before the next phone call or note. Take a moment to return to yourself. There is nowhere you need to hurry. Nothing you need to accomplish during these next few moments. Simply allow yourself to arrive. Take a slow, comfortable breath. Notice the air entering your body.

A soft breeze moves through the leaves. Birds sing quietly in the distance. Every flower here is different. Some are blooming brightly. Others are still small buds waiting for their own season. Yet none of them are rushed. Each grows according to its own timing. In the center of the garden sits a beautiful stone bench.

The title Countertransference Softens reflects the reality that reactions, emotions, memories, and personal responses naturally arise within therapeutic relationships. These experiences do not indicate failure. They simply remind us that those who help are human, too. This piece was created as a gentle acknowledgment of that humanity. Within Before the First Client: Listening Without Absorbing, this recording explores what becomes possible when practitioners meet their ow

Nothing Is Being Asked of You rests at the heart of the album's central message. Many experiences in life come with expectations. There are tasks to complete, goals to achieve, standards to meet, and responsibilities to carry. Even activities intended to support well-being can become another item on a growing list of things we feel obligated to do correctly.

Not your attention .Not your focus. Not your participation. You don’t have to “do it right. ”You don’t have to stay present the entire time. You don’t have to push through discomfort. If your body wants to drift—let it drift.

Trauma often leaves the body cycling between hyperarousal (anxiety, tension, vigilance) and hyperarousal (shutdown, numbness). The layered frequencies of a gong can create sustained, low, resonant vibrations that gently engage the nervous system without requiring verbal processing.