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
According to the Family Systems Theory, your current relationships are influenced by your family of origin. If you have problems with communication, and closeness, or get frustrated easily, take a look back and see how your family acted while you were growing up. To make a profound change, Family Systems Theory believes that the family system itself needs to change.
We all are born into...Learn More
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
When Basic Steps Mental Health first opened in 2017, I had never owned a business before. My sister hit it right on the head. She said, “As a therapist, you are top-notch, but as a businessman, not so much.” Yep, I made all the mistakes, squandered thousands of dollars, and was about to quit before my best friend told me to stick with it and if it lasted for two years, I’d have a lifelong...Learn More
I read an article years ago about the top 50 therapy approaches for treatment and could kick myself for not saving it. What I recall was group therapy was in the top five, family therapy in the top ten, number 7 was aversion therapy – like Schick Shadel used to offer before their recent close, individual therapy was around 15, and around 47 was the 12 steps. Group therapy will be the focus of...Learn More
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
Us healthcare workers are often at the front line in emergencies. Taking quick action can help people get away from a crisis, obtain the proper help, and move forward in their lives. Taking care of emergencies was all we did at the Mental Health Urgent Care Center in Long Beach California, where I was on staff for 11 years. Here were the red flags we looked for:
1. Was a person in a...Learn More
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
After 29 years in the mental health field, the most important thing I learned was to take care of myself first. In the helping business, it can be easy to get attached to people you treat, and worry about how they are doing. When this happens, it is a clear sign to stop whatever you are doing and take a break. Why? Because if we are not in balance, it is difficult to take care of others....Learn More
If you have never gone through counseling and wondered what happens in sessions, then this article was written for you. I remember the first time I went to a counselor and could feel my heart pounding in my neck and was looking for an excuse to sprint out of there. Though to be honest, I just found myself talking about myself, which was strange since at that time, all I wanted to do was...Learn More