Intro to Therapy

This is more of an educational post for those of you who don’t know the inner workings of therapy.  Some people think therapists give you advice.  Some people think therapists tell you what’s wrong with you.  We don’t.  We listen to you.  We give you space to talk and to be.  The more we sit with clients, giving them our undivided attention, the more clients open up and talk.  The more clients open up and talk, the more we can understand them better and in turn help them understand themselves.  There is so much power in presence.

We ask questions, tons of questions.  To get to know our clients better.  To hear their stories, to bear witness to them as humans.  To validate them.  And the thing is, we aren’t just listening.  We are attending.  While we listen to you, we are making connections to your past, present, and future.  We are tuned into what you are saying and what you are not saying.  We are skilled with tools and techniques to help.  We are so in tuned to our clients that we can discern which techniques will help and when, and which ones won’t.

Therapists are not interested in quick fixes or making our clients feel better.  Clearly, we don’t want you to feel worse.  Of a truth, the goal is to decrease symptoms.  Yet “feeling better” comes with helping you understand yourself better.

So, if you are on the fence about therapy or are considering therapy, I hope this helps to educate you on a piece of the therapeutic process.  It’s worth the investment, it’s worth the work.

Blessings,
Leslie