My Counseling Philosophy

My Philosophy

At the core of my counseling philosophy is the belief that relationships are vital to healthy living. I believe that we get hurt in relationships but we also can heal in relationships.  The counseling relationship has tremendous potential to bring healing to mental and emotional pain.  

It is my commitment to help you explore your past so you can better understand how you have become who you are.  We will work together to find ways for healing to take place.  Counseling is an “unfolding” process that is not always predictable because every person is unique.  Anchoring the counseling in a safe and secure relationship will sturdy you for the healing journey.

Healing and growing are rarely fast in core areas of your life .  The blockage you encounter in counseling has often been there for years and has deeply rooted itself in your person.  It will take time to create ideas, thoughts, behaviors and feelings that will replace the blockage.  As healing takes place, your life will become more sturdy, peaceful and productive.

It is my belief that examining your childhood experience is important because it helps you understand why you function as you do.  That relationship lays the foundation for how you view and understand all realities.  The type of caregiving provided by your parents is like a greenhouse.  It had the capacity to provide you much of the life-giving nutrients you needed as a child.  But often parents are wounded themselves and are unable to provide an adequate environment.  They most likely did the best they could.  Yet this does not mean it was an adequate environment for you to grow up in. We will identify the deficiencies, allow time for grieving what was not available, and repair the wounded dimensions of your self.

I believe that God, in Christ, created us to be significantly impacted by our parents. So we learn to rely on Him and others to reset our emotional, psychological and spiritual broken bones.  He is the ultimate healer of our hearts, minds and bodies. We will work hard along with Him in the counseling process.

 We can’t rush the healing process.  As Dr. Diane Langberg says, “God created us to live in time, and so we heal over time. Abuse and tragedies shatter many fundamental aspects of our personhood.  Although our God is a God of redemption, he usually works that redemption out through people and over time, often much time.”  I look forward to partnering with you and God, as you develop the life God intended for you.

• see the “Havening Touch” info on my website