We strive to understand each unique experience, and we support our clients’ progress by pointing out inherent strengths and resiliencies session after session. It is from that place we may even reveal some of our own humanness.

No apologies.Īs counselors, we want our clients to feel safe, understood and loved for who they are, regardless of their mistakes, habits and blemishes. It is within this discomfort that we grow as counselors, craft our own therapeutic style and stand strongly in the belief that we have a right to be here.

We evolve by staying open to our own process and by tolerating the discomfort involved with self-doubt and risk. I hope to offer strategies that other counselors can easily integrate, while also sharing new ideas to help promote effective change for clients. I will present various case studies and highlight what I have found essential in my own evolution as a counselor. My hope in creating The Hope Chest column for CT Online is to pass on valuable tokens that I have collected in my career as a counselor. She repeatedly told herself, “I deserve to be here … no apologies.” Courage and support are powerful allies when it comes to growth. After several conversations, Marcie’s anxiety disappeared almost entirely as it became clear to her that she was indeed the best candidate for the job based on her experience. In addition to reviewing other sources of self-doubt during our counseling sessions, Marcie identified and practiced a set of beliefs that produced a very different emotional response for her. Although she had worked hard and been on stage her entire life, she had begun to doubt herself after other dancers told her she did not deserve the coveted position. Marcie, a young adult, started coming to therapy after developing debilitating anxiety that interfered with her ability to manage a new career as a dance instructor. And although we receive countless contributions along the way from teachers, mentors and peers, the gifts we receive from our clients offer us the most reward and the best opportunity to progress as counselors. As counselors, we know that our growth is equally as important as the growth of our clients.

What we think makes an effective counselor may evolve over time, but in the end it is the willingness to evolve itself that offers the most reward and sustainability throughout our careers.

The gift of therapy