Some Advise to New Therapists
If you want to become a counselor, there are a few tidbits of information I can pass along that I’ve gathered in the last 30 years of fieldwork: Practice good self-care. Continue to work on your personal issues as they present themselves. Never work harder than the client. It is okay to let there be silence in the session as the client searches their mind. This process is the foundation of...Learn More
Life and Loss
We had a common theme this past week at Basic Steps Mental Health and that was with loss. The subject of loss has many facets. There is loss of life, loss of a relationship, loss of health, and loss of purpose – as with retirement – to name a few. When we go through an abrupt change it can be startling. There is the classic Kubler-Ross stages of grief that can be used as a guide, in which I...Learn More
The Comparisons
I learned a long time ago that when I compare myself to other people I always lose. My mother used to say, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” I think the reason why I made comparisons was in having low self-worth. We always assume that people are perfect and better, and we make ourselves second best – but that is just my theory. The real issue here is not the comparisons but...Learn More
What to Expect from Counseling
Recently, there have been a lot of people at our facility that are new to counseling. It can be very scary to walk into a facility and talk about things you are trying to hide from others. So first off, a big thanks to all of you first-timers who were brave enough to come in and face their fears. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the counseling process, this article was written to take the...Learn More
The Holidays
Yes, it’s “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” time. It’s time for good cheer and holiday fun. But if you’ve suffered holiday trauma, it probably isn’t a pleasant time for you at all. Years ago, I coached a little league baseball team and the father of one of my players was killed in a liquor store robbery. Then came the holidays and it wasn’t pleasant for the child, his family, and...Learn More
Therapist – Move Out of the Way
This article is written for new therapists entering the field. In supervising interns on how to conduct therapy, I find that my first challenge is getting students out of the habit of following an agenda instead of simply being with the client, filled with hope. It can be viewed as helping them toss their education to the side and leading with their heart. Oh, they will know the correct...Learn More
The Foundation of Our Relationships
You would think that relationships were all about sharing love and having amazing moments together, well, yes, that is true but to Spiritual Psychology, a relationship entails each partner healing old wounds that have been suppressed in the subconsciousness. This baggage, if not given an outlet can wreak havoc. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me is simply...Learn More
I Did What I Did
Well, that was interesting. I tried to open up an article I wrote recently about my Bottom Line theory of healing and it gave me an error message. I’ll take that as a message from God. Now I’m laughing. Perhaps God is telling me I still need to refine my approach. Such is life. You think you have things all figured out and then something unexpected slaps you in the face. How you deal with it...Learn More
Bottom Line – Healing Through Effort
I was looking through my files and came upon this article that hadn’t been published. Perhaps something more important was on my mind. Re-reading this I realized that, bottom line, this article is very important because it gets down to the root of my therapy strategy. For almost 30 years I’ve struggled to find “the solution”. You know, something that will fix everybody, so that they won’t...Learn More