kind words
I first met Amanda in class with Sandra Seacat - our mutual teacher. Amanda and I share a deep love for Sandra and her work- with both of us having the great good fortune to study with her. Later, Amanda came to Creative Dreamwork classes and it is there I came to know her creative depth and love for this work. As the work grew, Amanda apprenticed with me and grew to teach alongside me at Creative Dreamwork. She was a founding member of CDW and helped influence and develop the practices. She is now teaching on her own and is a valued colleague. Amanda holds a steady, supportive container in which the artist can release old narratives and explore new terrain. She is playful and intuitive with a deep devotion that guides her. I admire the way that Amanda is growing the work forward as she continues her own explorations of learning and brings her fresh new findings back to the work. She holds the work with respect, humility and care.
I have been working with Amanda consistently for the last 6 years after fatefully being led into one of her classes in LA. I had worked for many years with Kim Gillingham and had heard Amanda’s name repeatedly (Lovejoy is a name that is hard to forget and not be intrigued by) in connection to her deep association with Kim. I have worked with her on dreams as they relate to my life and creative process, and on particular acting roles. I know her to be a finely attuned, instinctive and loving dreamwork coach. She lives her life with a particular reverence for story, and culture, art making and for the inner life. Amanda has held me with such care - she holds the container for me to work, while also encouraging me to go deeper… explore further. Coming into contact with Amanda’s elegant, sharp mind, and her curiosity about other people’s minds, alongside her reverence for our shared humanity, offers such support, and is a treasured part of my life and creative work.
I have been working with Amanda for years and have found her deep grasp of dreams and Jungian theory to be invaluable for my work in film and television. I cherish our work together.
As a writer coming to Creative Dream Work for the first time, I had in mind that I might make some progress in my screenwriting project and perhaps “unblock” my creativity a bit. But on a deeper level, there was so much more I was seeking — a deep missing of my own spirit, a desire to reconnect with the simple, joyful animal of my creativity, and the need to recuperate from the exhaustion of my anxieties. I had no idea that my work with Amanda would so profoundly impact all levels of my being. What Amanda facilitates is true soul medicine. She possesses a vast creaturely intelligence that operates from a place of compassion, tenderness, and curiosity. It’s hard to put words to the experience of Creative Dream Work because it’s so all-encompassing. It’s alchemy. It’s play. It’s self-discovery. This work thrills and challenges me. It enlivens me. It’s potent and alive; it stays with me. In this dreaming, I am awakened to myself and to the world in such a vital way. Amanda’s presence in my creative journey has been nothing short of transformative. Since starting this work a year ago, she has guided me toward powerful (and surprising!) inner resources that help me inhabit myself more authentically and joyfully.
Amanda is the magic we all need. Her ability as a facilitator is truly remarkable as she takes you out the deep way and down into the juiciest mud. Her approach allows ample space for one to engage with her gestalt of the somatic, Jungian, unconscious, and dream states on one's own terms. Amanda provides her workshops to the artist mothers we support at The First Ten and the impact has been inspiring to witness: from quiet revelations, to total shifts in approaches to art making and growth, and appetite for risk. Her work regarding the inner critic, visioning, and permission states specifically influenced our artists. We are so fortunate to work with her and offer her gifts to our artists.
Working with Amanda is, like a dream—an ever-changing exploration. Each time we meet, I leave having discovered something I needed to remember and, with her supportive push, find myself uncovering key questions my daily conscious self may have never considered asking. As a creative writer, I’ve been able to embody new narrative logics, feel form, hear characters' voices, toy with time, unwind complex dynamics, and invent my own reliable secret rituals for solitary work.
Amanda is as playful as she is precise, forever curious and completely unpretentious—insanely gifted at authentically connecting groups while respecting the boundaries of the individual self. I am deeply grateful for Amanda as both a keeper and sharer of this work, helping so many of us access our unique hidden strengths while uncovering the strange natures of our many faces.
In a late-capitalist world that preaches perfectionism and instills black and white or good vs. bad inner value systems, the creative sanctuary she helps spirits through dreamwork is more essential than ever, offering a blueprint for paradox and holding an infinite mirror to the human/ animal soul/hole.
It takes a special kind of human to facilitate work that takes you deep into your psyche and Amanda is that kind of human. She brings such presence, intuition, insight, compassion and a light and easy style that makes the deep dive feel safe and fun. This work is hard to describe – it’s kind of like yoga for your psyche. It’s a meditation, but one where you’re actively exploring your imagination, using your body, voice and all your senses. It can be emotionally cathartic, it can be really fun, it can sometimes be simply a deep rest. Amanda has guided me into some surprising and inspiring corners of my imagination and unconscious. I come out of our sessions feeling invigorated, lighter, and more free – and take that into my acting work. I’ve found practical tools I can take with me to set that feel like little magic tricks, but are really just ways to drop deeper inside
Amanda’s one of a kind. Working with her both privately and in a group setting has been fundamental in developing my creative practice. She’s highly intuitive, calm, encouraging and curious, and creates a safe and playful space to delve in and truly explore. Her work is profoundly holistic and has opened me up into a richer, deeper and more authentic way of connecting with myself, my art and others. And it’s super f*ing fun! It’s become an integral part of my artistic process and way beyond. I’m forever grateful and couldn’t recommend her more highly.
I’ve worked with Amanda both in live sessions and 1-2-1 online, and I can honestly say that whatever format, Amanda’s work will take you deep. She holds a space with you of complete trust and keeps it free of anything that is unnecessary to the work. She opens up your heart in a creative, compassionate, fun, safe, non-judgemental setting. To me, Amanda is one of the greats and she has fundamentally re-shaped my approach to the work. We cry, we laugh, we go deep. We abandon any noise and give the work the love and attention it deserves. If you, like me, long to put your soul at the forefront of the work. Go see Amanda. My only regret is that I didn’t find my way to her sooner.
I have had the deep pleasure of working with Amanda for years, in one on one sessions and in her workshops, and I have transformed (and continue to transform) as an artist and as a human with her gentle and intuitive guidance. She holds a loving, reverent, and playful space, and offers her deep wisdom, to help you explore and connect with your body, feelings, and unconscious with its incredible reserves of creativity and power, and develop your creative material. I have connected with the heart of my writing, my characters and story, and made discoveries far beyond what I thought possible. And, developed and deepened my connection with myself, as an artist and as a human being, and my soul… creating my projects and myself, bringing into form
Working with Amanda has changed my life and creative practice immeasurably. I'm so happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her in both group and one-to-one sessions, diving deep into the practicalities of dream work and Jungian theory. I've used these tools to guide me through developing and connecting with characters I've played and this practice also helped me write my second novel. Amanda approaches the work delicately, with a warmth and sensitivity that provides the sense of safety required to commit to such rigorous internal explorations. I can't wait to see where my dream work journey takes me next.
