"Being listend to, feeling really 'heard' in the core of our being, is a valuing experience, affirming our essential worth as a human being. This in itself is healing."
"Do I always, or almost always, feel joy in living?"
"... therapy can be seen as a kind of play (with words as toys); a therapeutic context becomes that space of safety and suspended rules where therapists and client may experiment with new options." - Anne Rambo
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Do You “Need” Therapy?
In today’s culture, counselling is generally viewed as a last resort, a crisis intervention, something we do when we have exhausted our own resources, or when we are feeling stuck with the same old problem. A therapeutic conversation with a professional counsellor can assist you to find new solutions, gain support, and chart a path through difficult seasons of the journey of life.
There are times along the journey of life, outside of crisis moments, when we have a vague sense that something is not as it should be, a gnawing ache that something is missing, or off kilter. Counselling can help in finding clarity about values and exploring the meaning and purpose of life, or assisting individuals to connect with their passions and creating a life that is “juicy,” and deeply satisfying. In such instances, counselling becomes more like having a coach for the road of life.
Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star, (see full article Looking For Dr. Listen Good) offers two questions that can help evaluate if counselling would be helpful for you:
Do I always, or almost always, feel joy in living?
Do I have a loving, open, honest relationship with at least one other person?
These can be hard questions to answer as, sometimes, it depends on the current context of your life. As an example, if you have just experienced a traumatic loss and you are walking through grief and bereavement, then expecting to be joyful is probably not realistic. However, if there are extended periods of time when you do not experience any joy in living, then finding out why may be a good idea. Beck suggests that if you answer no to one, or both, questions then counselling could improve the quality of your life.
Are You Looking For Change? Want To Get Unstuck?
Therapeutic conversations open possibilities for:
- Finding power and choice when problems feel overwhelming.
- Overcoming depression and re- experiencing hope and joy.
- Learning and growing through loss and grief, (including the loss of family pets).
- Liberation from addictive behaviours & substance misuse.
- Finding assertive and healthy ways to respond to the addictive behaviour or substance misuse of someone you love.
- Understanding the meaning behind anger and learning respectful ways to communicate intense emotions.
- Growing safe and meaningful relationships.
- Learning to let go of trying to control others through intimidation or violence and reconnect with behaviors that communicate respect and kindness.
- Keeping yourself and your family safe when responding to abuse or violence of your partner.
- Nurturing intimacy with your partner as a foundation to sexual satisfaction.
- Finding your voice in the midst of crazy making abusive relationships.
- Becoming the parent you really want to be.
- Turning life and family transitions (retirement, critical illness, empty nest) into seasons of discovery.
- Creating a purposeful life and a balanced sense of wellbeing.
- Developing new meaning in life.
- Exploring spirituality, growing faith, and discovering spiritual disciplines.
- The safe telling of “secrets” and stories of pain and suffering, oppression and abuse, and the celebration of stories of resistance and resilience.
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