Counseling Philosophy

My counseling philosophy is that you are the expert.  You are the author, director and lead actor on your journey toward self discovery and healing.  I believe that this journey is one that never truly ends.  You might decide to change direction or take a different path many times during your life.  I became a mental health professional because I was interested in helping people.  I have always looked for the positive qualities in others, not their shortcomings.    

I hope that you will be able to continue to grow and be comfortable with the knowledge that we are always changing, evolving and growing throughout our lives.  I believe that therapy is about your choices, not about what I think your choices and goals should be.  You are your own best healer.  Using the timeless movie classic The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's character discovers that the answer was within herself all the time.

The aim of therapy is not merely to solve problems but to assist consumers in their personal growth process, enabling them to better deal with issues of concern.  My counseling philosophy is holistic in nature.  I believe that the process of healing should encompass the emotional, physical and spiritual parts of you.  My therapeutic approach is based on a personal growth model using several diffierent philosophies.  I use Positive Psychology and Client Centered Therapy.  I incorporate Cinematherapy as a supplemental intervention.  

Positive Psychology is the study of positive human functioning.  It's premise is improving the quality of life not just treating illness.  Traditionally, psychology focused almost exclusively on pathology; they rarely addressed models for emotional growth and resiliency.  Client-Centered therapy also known as Person-Centered therapy is a non-directive form of talk therapy that was developed by humanist psychologist Carl Rogers during the 1940's and 1950's.  Client-Centered therapy emphasizes the importance of unconditional positive regard.

Carl Rogers believed that people are fundamentally good, and this is a belief that I hold in my therapy sessions.  Rogers develped his theory based on his work with emotionally disturbed people and claimed that we have a remarkble capacity for self-healing and personal growth leading towards self-actualization.  He placed emphasis on the person's current perception and how we live in the here and now.  Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and maintained that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation.  

Cinematherapy is a therapeutic intervention that allows consumers to visually assess a film's character interaction with others, their environment and personal issues to facilitate positive therapeutic movement (Tyson, Foster, and Jones, 2000; Caron, 2005).  Cinematherapy is an innovative therapeutic modality that uses consumer's experiences with movies (mostly as homework assignments) for the therapeutic process.