Weaving modern science with ancient wisdom
Hello, I’m Sunyata Kopriva (they/them) MSW, LCSW, RYT. I am a global trauma psychotherapist specializing in culturally appropriate relational attachment and dissociation across the lifespan. For the last 25 years, I have been a devoted and dedicated student of Tantric Buddhism within a lineage with a qualified lama. I have completed years of retreat and hold a strict daily practice schedule and annual retreat schedule. I am currently training in Tibetan Medicine and Tibetan Yoga.
I orient with depth, developmental, liberation, transpersonal, and cross-cultural psychology. I have spent over two decades studying therapeutic, spiritual, meditative, artistic, and community change techniques. My path has brought together the personal, familial, social, national, and global (read my personal story here. For my more professional biography scroll down to the end of this page.) With such a rich history of lived experiences, I am devoted to weaving the science of trauma with the wisdom and practices of psychotherapy, animism, shamanism, and nondual traditions. I have seen over time how this mix meets people exactly where they are at and offers timeless guidance towards wholeness.
Ancient seekers and healers would often seek out challenging environments to reinforce the understanding that our internal struggles stem from our own experiences rather than from reality itself. These challenging places have been called "haunted ground" by the yogis of India and the Himalayan region. Modern psychology would call it “shadow work”. Haunted ground would traditionally be found externally in wilderness areas or charnel grounds. These difficult areas allowed people to explore life beyond their comfort zones. This approach shows that when we are outside the realm of comfort, we can more clearly perceive the intensity of our internal experiences without escaping.
Today, I would say that living with and surviving complex trauma is more challenging than being in a charnel ground. Trauma can be powerful fuel for one’s inner awakening. Just to be clear, this does not excuse or justify trauma. Trauma needs to stop. And, surviving complex trauma creates an opportunity for awakening unlike most other situations. The poison can be transformed into the medicine, just like for the ancient yogis.
For many years, much of modern psychology has promised fulfillment through the building up and strengthening of the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated and confident self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But many ancient cultures around the world offer a different view. While the ego has its place, especially with trauma, the meaning of life is not seen as coming from any kind of acquisitiveness, be it material or psychological. The meaning of life is understood as coming from letting go and being in reciprocity with nature. Modern psychiatrist Donald Winnicott studied the need for what he called ‘unintegration’. Unintegration is the ability let go of ego as the cornerstone of personal experience while remaining psychologically stable.
These rich ideas and practices are what make up Dynamic Trauma Integration and Dynamic Processing Method. Being safe and comfortable is just half of the equation. The rest unfolds, un-integrates, through the path of awakening.
Dynamic Trauma Integration is a comprehensive, holistic, and integrative approach to healing trauma in its early stages and as people continue to grow and evolve. Trauma pops up at unexpected times and in unexpected ways as people mature. It does not look the same as it does when things are acute. This is why I have specialized in supporting people on the journey from complex trauma and dissociation to presence. While safety and coping are important when trauma is acute, working with dissociation and presence is necessary as people keep moving along on their path. I utilize evidence-based practices and complimentary practices in a creative to work with the whole person and whole situation.
I work with single incident traumas (car crashes, medical trauma, physical assault, etc.), complex trauma (childhood abuse, racial trauma, poverty, etc.), ancestral trauma, intergenerational trauma, spiritual trauma, attachment trauma, and collective trauma. I have a lot of experience treating a variety of mental health diagnosis including: PTSD, Dissociative Disorders, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, and Psychosis. I work with individuals, relationships, families, and communities.
Treatment is individually designed in a collaborative therapeutic relationship.
Evidence-Based psychotherapy methods utilized with Dynamic Trauma Integration
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Trauma Center Trauma- Sensitive Yoga (TC-TSY)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)
complimentary healing methods utilized with Dynamic Trauma Integration
Meditation
Dreamwork
Breathwork
Chanting
Sacred sexuality
Energy hygiene
Nutrition
Shamanic journeying
Art
Sound healing
Extended Professional Experience
I have degrees in social work with an emphasis in developmental trauma, as well as, anthropology, psychology, and photography. I have completed numerous trainings in various evidence-based mind/body treatments for psychological disorders from credible sources. I am a registered yoga teacher, and have specialized training on how to use yoga with different populations: youth, trauma survivors, gender expansive and queer people, and during pregnancy. My early clinical focus was in inpatient, residential, and community-based care for children and adolescents in marginalized communities. Under the guidance of extraordinary supervision, I trained to address severe and persistent mental health issues, especially trauma related. I became adept at individual, couples, family, and group therapy, as well as, organizing community resources. I created a trauma-focused yoga program for youth at a state residential facility, from which the youth regularly reported at least a 50% reduction of symptoms. I worked closely within interdisciplinary clinical teams. I have led and organized workshops and trainings about post-traumatic stress disorder, racial trauma, complex trauma, culturally appropriate mental health care, human trafficking, mindful photography, and complimentary holistic medicine.
Prior to pursuing a clinical career, I worked in research, humanitarian aid, non-profit programming, international developments, arts education, and community change. I have led and been a part of numerous research projects over the years, including four years examining how standardized tests can more accurately evaluate English Language Learners. From 2008-2011, I was a United States Peace Corps representative in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Within the Girls Education and Empowerment program, I developed a participatory photography program (first of its kind in Peace Corps) with local women and girls. The women and girls used photography as a way to examine their lives, create social change, and gain independence. I stayed in Peace Corps for an additional year and partnered with local healers and a local mental health hospital to develop a mental health program at an elementary school. In 2003, I studied with the School for International Training in South Africa. I conducted their own research in collaboration with a local psychiatrist and wrote a thesis entitled, Me/We: cultural shift from collectivist to individualistic culture ten years post-apartheid. After graduating early from high school, I began working with an urban arts non-profit for youth where they started a successful poetry program. Eventually, my students and I partnered with the Corcoran School for Art and Design to develop an annual poetry and art book entitled, Lifting As We Climb, which was used for exposure and fundraising.
I am a member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and EMDR International Association.
“Grateful for the time together. I have learned/remembered such amazing things. So fortunate to have completely changed the trajectory of my life. A huge right turn to a beautiful path. So, so blessed. Such fullness in this life. Thanks for helping me see it.”