Our Philosophy on What Therapy Should Be

 

When you see one of us at our organization, then you can expect someone who shows he or she has a full and accepting understanding of your difficulties, who listens keenly, is non-judgmental but real, and shows complete respect.

Sessions are time-effective, frequent when needed and intermittent when feasible.

We will be oriented toward pragmatic solutions.

We work collaboratively toward your goals, not ours…but we’ll reserve the right to challenge and exert pressure at times.

We will check regularly on how you feel about the therapy process and our working relationship. The quality of our working relationship is fundamental. We expect problems to arise at times, and we take care of them right away.

There is almost always some humor and laughing, but not at the expense of entering tough territory or high intensity as much as we need to.

We strive to bring creativity to bear on problems, and to assist you in seeing them from a new and more constructive angle. For example, you may be asked to relate to us in a way that is new for you, or practice a new skill as we coach. Almost always, we will ask you to complete a relevant task between sessions.

The process shouldn’t be too difficult or painful, but neither should it be entirely easy or meant only to make you feel good fleetingly.

We may or may not suggest medication, and will work with the choice you prefer. We may ask your permission to stay in touch with your doctor.

Therapy should end with your having a resolution to the problems we have addressed, or as close to a resolution as we can manage.

You should leave with clear ideas on how to avert and manage recurrences.

The methods we might use in working with you include cognitive therapy, behavioral activation, brief insight-oriented therapy, systems relationship therapy, Gottman relationship therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), mindfulness training and problem-solving therapy…not to mention good old supportive counseling, among others. What does this mean? To simplify a lot for the sake of brevity here, it means that we may look into how you:

 

• Distort your take on things, and how you can improve rational thinking.
• Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
• See how your behaviours may be eliciting the behaviors in others you do not want.
• Communicate.
• Stay aware of your emotions.
• Experience appropriate sadness without undue depression.
• Experience anxiety without spiraling into it or protecting yourself too much.
• Balance the need for connection and intimacy with autonomy and privacy.
• Come to peaceful terms with those things you cannot change.
• Decrease fruitless ruminating and turn you attention to what is more meaningful.
• Improve your effectiveness in solving problems.

And, above all, you should always feel comfortable knowing that you can confidentially talk to us about virtually anything.

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Kathleen M. Reay, Dr. Neil R. Smith, and Sheila Clements, BSW, MSW, RSW