About this blog

I developed this blog as a forum to look at issues that might impact potential clients or people who are just interested in looking at issues many adults struggle with along with some of the ways I might work with a client on those issues.

I have always said that no one escapes life without an issue that they feel they cannot handle on their own. However, I know that not every person will seek out a therapist and I think that is fine as long as these people seek out someone outside of their own best thinking. We all need others to help us hold up a mirror to ourselves and offer another point of view. For some, it is a clergy member, a primary care physician, a 12 step meeting or a close and honest friend.  Often people like to have the option to tell their story to someone who doesn't have a personal relationship with them and won't have an emotional reaction to their needs. In these situations a therapist can be helpful.

Many clients who see me for the first time worry that by going to a therapist they are automatically labeled "crazy" by the mental health profession. Quite the contrary, I always see these clients as smart. They are seeking consult on a problem that they have to the best of their abilities and social support system been unable to address effectively and they want a change. This seeking of assistance, in my humble and professional view, is no different from me picking up the phone when our furnace goes out. I may fiddle with the thermostat and change the filter to see if that helps but if it persistently doesn't work but in the dead of winter, if the heat goes,  I am going to call a local HVAC professional.

Overall I hope this blog helps eliminate the stigma associated with having a mental illness. I hope to have an impact on people who are sitting on the fence with their feelings and experiences either as a couple, a mother, an adult in a state of transition, loss or whatever seems to be keeping stagnation in place. I often remind my clients that nothing changes if nothing changes. Sometimes therapy can assist in making change.

I encourage feedback and dialogue, so please forward, post, tweet and comment!