I approach therapy as more than simply a vocation because I know what it's like to feel hopeless and purposeless. Life is hard and without hope and sense of purpose, it's almost impossible to get through. Others helped me find hope as well as a greater purpose. Now through therapy I get to give back and help others connect with these important pre-requisites to a life full of contentment and fulfillment.
I don't sit from a place of expertise or pretend as though bc I am a therapist I am one without difficulties and blind spots of my own; therefore I try to never create a sense of judgement. I also don't believe in therapy as though I am sitting from a high perch and simply observing from afar. I believe in entering into the client's experience. Life guarantees hardship and difficulties. But they can be at least a little less hard with someone who truly looks to enter into our suffering with us and just sit with us in it, allowing us to feel how we feel.
I try as a therapist to balance and value both the objective reality (things that have been said or done as a matter of fact) and the subjective experience (intent of things said or done, motivations, and interpretations of the factual happenings) and so clients can expect to walk away both feeling validated for their experience and interpretation of reality while also feeling challenged to re-evaluate or take another look at the realities we face to see if there is anything within their power to improve upon.
