Where do I begin?
Where do I begin?
It all begins with a phone call or email. Simply contact me, we'll talk briefly and then if you like, we can set up a first appointment. This appointment is for you to get a sense of me and for me to get to know you a bit. Often in this first appointment I am getting to understand the particular problem that brought you in and what it is that you are looking for from counseling. Generally, at the end of the session we decide how we want to go forward and talk a little about what that would look like.
It all begins with a phone call or email. Simply contact me, we'll talk briefly and then if you like, we can set up a first appointment. This appointment is for you to get a sense of me and for me to get to know you a bit. Often in this first appointment I am getting to understand the particular problem that brought you in and what it is that you are looking for from counseling. Generally, at the end of the session we decide how we want to go forward and talk a little about what that would look like.
Do you really need therapy?
Paulo Coelho has said, “Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” There is truth in these words, fears often drown out the cries and passions of our heart. Our world can become very small when fear rules it. I believe that therapy can be a place to discover who a person is and a place where an individual’s world expands. More often than not life requires us to walk alongside another person in that journey until the path becomes clear. Therapy is not just for those who are seriously struggling, but often it is for those who have lost their way, lost themselves, or who simply find that their world has become too small.
Whatever difficulty you are facing, it doesn't hurt to get help. Contrary to some concerns, therapy does not foster dependence. That is not the final goal. The goal is actually to help you find a place where you do not need therapy. The difficulties we face, be it loss or sadness, are often made worse by the idea that I should be able to get through this on my own or I shouldn't feel this way. The reality is that you do feel that way. If you imagine your struggle as fifty pounds of weight on your back, being hard on yourself for struggling is like adding another fifty pounds of weight. You actually make your struggle worse. We all need help from time to time and we all have areas of our life that need growth and healing.
We live in a society filled with self-help books where there is a strong push to solve life's problems ourselves. The problem is
that science has finally confirmed what ancient wisdom has consistently been stating- we don't heal in isolation. Neuroscientists have actually discovered that isolation is toxic to the brain. One study examined canaries and how they learned their songs from their parents. They decided to record the songs and play them for the young canaries, but the canaries could not learn the songs. The only way they could learn was from a live canary. The actual science behind this is rather detailed, but the final outcome is that there are many things that we cannot learn without being in the presence of others. Entering into a counseling relationship can be a life changing experience that cannot be duplicated through a book or personal willpower.
Paulo Coelho has said, “Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” There is truth in these words, fears often drown out the cries and passions of our heart. Our world can become very small when fear rules it. I believe that therapy can be a place to discover who a person is and a place where an individual’s world expands. More often than not life requires us to walk alongside another person in that journey until the path becomes clear. Therapy is not just for those who are seriously struggling, but often it is for those who have lost their way, lost themselves, or who simply find that their world has become too small.
Whatever difficulty you are facing, it doesn't hurt to get help. Contrary to some concerns, therapy does not foster dependence. That is not the final goal. The goal is actually to help you find a place where you do not need therapy. The difficulties we face, be it loss or sadness, are often made worse by the idea that I should be able to get through this on my own or I shouldn't feel this way. The reality is that you do feel that way. If you imagine your struggle as fifty pounds of weight on your back, being hard on yourself for struggling is like adding another fifty pounds of weight. You actually make your struggle worse. We all need help from time to time and we all have areas of our life that need growth and healing.
We live in a society filled with self-help books where there is a strong push to solve life's problems ourselves. The problem is
that science has finally confirmed what ancient wisdom has consistently been stating- we don't heal in isolation. Neuroscientists have actually discovered that isolation is toxic to the brain. One study examined canaries and how they learned their songs from their parents. They decided to record the songs and play them for the young canaries, but the canaries could not learn the songs. The only way they could learn was from a live canary. The actual science behind this is rather detailed, but the final outcome is that there are many things that we cannot learn without being in the presence of others. Entering into a counseling relationship can be a life changing experience that cannot be duplicated through a book or personal willpower.