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Counselling
What is it? Who is it for?
It's
a big world, and the challenges each of us faces can seem overwhelming. When that happens,
family and friends may not be available to us, or we may want to talk to a more neutral,
trained listener. Someone outside our immediate circle of support who offers a
professional, confidential service.
Counselling
often deals with issues of concern or crisis. But while times of stress and change may
cause us to seek support, counselling also is useful as a means of growth and enhanced
self-awareness.
Sometimes
simply sensing that there is more to life and to ourselves than we are in touch with may
inspire us to want to explore what this "more" consists of. Counselling can help
in a search for new direction and meaning.
Although
it is a big world, and we may at times feel confused and vulnerable, it is also a small
world, in the sense that human beings are similar in basic and important ways, and we are
all in this world together.
Counselling
can help us to get in touch with our similarities to others as well as our uniqueness, and
to sense our common strivings, helping ease our sense of isolation.
All of us no doubt could, at certain seasons in our lives,
benefit from counselling.
My
Approach
My approach to counselling is both humanistic and transpersonal. I view the client as a partner in our
work together, responsible for where h/she wants that work to go. I provide attention,
respect, and companionship on the journey, as well as information and guidance when
appropriate. My intention is to create a sense of spaciousness and safety in which the
client can contemplate the possibility of change.
Exploration
of the past often is a feature of this work, facilitating the awareness of unconscious
blocks and negative messages which stand in the way of a creative and nourishing life.
I seek to
enable the client to achieve an expanded relationship to the self, leading to greater
integration and wholeness.
Training and Experience
My
twenty-plus years of clinical experience includes work in hospitals,
an outpatient family service agency, and 25 years of private practice
with individuals and couples. Among concerns frequently presented are:
 | Relationship problems |
| Depression |
| Significant life changes |
| Mid-life crisis |
| Addiction-related issues in self or others |
I
have presented training sessions to other health practitioners, and conducted classes,
workshops, and groups on addiction and co-dependency.
I contributed the
chapter entitled "Twelve Steps Programme" to the book Medical Marriage;
The New Partnership between Orthodox and Complementary Medicine, published in 1997 by
Findhorn Press.
Professional Qualifications
| B.A., University of Illinois
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| M.A. in Counselling Psychology,
H.E.E.D. University, Florida
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| Certification in Addiction
Counselling, State of Illinois
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