To my beloved clients…
I’ve sat a long time, thinking about how to describe therapy, to describe what it is that I do. I looked it up once, there over 300 different approaches to counselling in the SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counselling and Psychotherapy. My approach to counselling/therapy is a big mix between a bunch of these.
Some of the tools I use are based off my own experience as a client in counselling. A lot of my learning came from working in the treatment program, and various support roles in my community.
But overall I have some guiding principles and goals when working in collaboration with you.
Without further ado here is a list of my top goals are as your therapist:
To provide space for you to process and explore what is going on for you
To listen for the golden threads: these are your passions, your values, your goals let them be your guiding light
To listen to and witness your story - every moment, even the mundane makes you who are
To witness and combat your shame. Shame hides in secrets and in darkness. It is an act of rebellion to resist staying in the dark
To see you and accept you for all that you are. I have no agenda for you other than to live a fulfilling life.
To remind you that there isn’t anything wrong with you, regardless of what others or your internal voice might say
To do my part to deconstruct society that isn’t built for everyone to thrive. To remind you of this.
To encourage you to inch closer to your truth
To amplify your voice
To help you to unlearn anything that no longer serves you
To provide a safe space. I cannot guarantee that I am a safe person, that is for you to decide but I will do everything in my power to provide safety in the ways I know how.
To be aware of my own biases and let them be known.
To continue to grow, learn and educate myself in areas that I am not as strong
To live in align with my truth
To go into the darkness together, so you don’t have to do it alone. It is terrain I am familiar with and comfortable in.
To be an anchor when we are in deep waters
To listen deeply and to reflect what I’m hearing
To humbly accept when I am wrong
To normalize your experience
To encourage you when finding your own sources of healing, I am not the end, I am not the answer
To show up as the best version of myself I can be on that day
To remind you that your perspectives are true, valid and real. Even if someone else thinks differently
To provide space for all of your emotions to show up. Even the ones that aren’t experienced as positive
I hope that when we work together, you can feel this. This list will expand and shift over time. and I will continue to write to you (whoever you are) about what it is that I do. I will share the books that I read/have read, the theories I stumble upon. and maybe you will find something in there that you find helpful.
Please, absorb what is helpful, and leave the rest behind.
with love,
Chantelle