Welcome to the blog

This is the beginning of putting my thoughts down in the ether.  I am somewhat nervous that I will either talk too much saying nothing or will not say what I mean to.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I am a therapist.  If you are reading this blog you have already figured that out.  In this first foray into the digital void, I would like to dispel some of the misconceptions people have about the therapeutic process.

First, many believe that therapy is for the weak.  Not so my friend.  Self-examination requires courage.  It is easy to blame everything and everyone around you for what is wrong in your life, but only you have the power to change your experience.  It is always helpful, often necessary, to have someone see you objectively and to help you to see things in a new light, to recognize patterns in your life, and to help you discover new solutions to old problems.  Therapy does that.

Some think that therapy is all about ‘digging up the past’ and blaming the parents.  While it is true that it is necessary to examine a person’s history to identify where beliefs and patterns of behavior originated, that part of therapy is more like data-mining than looking for someone to blame.  It is an important component of self-understanding, but is absolutely not about being the victim of some vicious plot by your parents’ to ruin your life.  It is about discovering how you became you and how you still have the power to recreate your life to work better, to be happier, and to wear your life loosely.

Some argue that therapy is a needless expense, a rip-off by soft-minded bleeding hearts, or just a waste of time.  Good therapy is just the opposite.  It is not an expense but an investment in a more productive, more enjoyable and more fulfilled life.  The function of therapy is to improve your relationship with yourself and by doing so, you automatically improve your relationship with others and the world at large.  It is an investment in the most important person in your life – you.

Therapists do have compassion for others’  pain and difficulties but challenge rather than coddle someone who has become stuck in one way or another.  This requires being really ‘present’ with the person seeking help.   It is not about telling a person what to do or how to be, but rather about creating an opportunity for that person to discover for him or herself what they want to do and who they want to be.  If you have been unsuccessfully trying to do that for years, perhaps a little assistance is just what you are looking for.

My own experience is that therapy opened doors for me that I didn’t even know existed.  It created the opportunity for me to reach beyond where I was and who I believed myself to be.  It was through facing and embracing my self-destructive behavior and my fears, that I could become the person I was meant to be.  If you want that in your life, if you even think that you might possibly, even a little bit, wish that could happen for you, take a chance.  Make a call.  The first session is free so that you can try it on for free.  If you don’t like it or don’t like me, nothing lost.  If you think that some therapy might be helpful, my mission is to identify the problem, find the solution and get the new, improved you back in the game as quickly as possible.  So take a chance, leap and the net will appear.  Choose to discover yourself and watch your life change.