What is therapy?
The origin of the word therapy comes from Greek word therapeutikos, which means to attend. Attending is a foundational component to the therapeutic experience because it signifies that attention is being placed onto a person. It may seem obvious, but when we think about many of our social interactions, often we don’t feel listened to by the other person. In therapy, a therapist is focused, interested, and really is trying to hear with a level of intensity. It’s rare in our day to day lives to be listened to, and when it happens it can free a person up to explore new thoughts and feel valued. Attending is at the most basic level of a therapeutic intervention.
What is my Philosophy of therapy?
The essence of my work as a therapist is dependent upon establishing a secure connection with my clients. To me, a secure connection means that there is trust, respect, honesty, and genuineness so that a client feels safe to explore the vulnerable issues. There are a multitude of ways I go about supporting a client. Sometimes I may talk a lot. Often I listen to the client as a means to deeply understand their experience. Sometimes we tell jokes. Sometimes we sit in silence. But I share myself authentically and look for ways into who the client is. In this space I remain adaptable and curious. When I challenge, I challenge carefully and respectfully, always in the direction of potential. Three questions that guide me in my work are: Can the client identify their problem? Does the client have the tools and skills to solve their problem? If the client could fix their problem, would they? I make a heart felt attempt to support clients by discussing balance, taking responsibility for the choices they make, to identify who they want to become, and encourage them to strive for more than what they are.
Who are family therapist?
The origins of family therapy has been a part of the world of psychology for about 100 years. A Marriage and Family Therapist is a mental health professional who has specific education in systemic theory, in either a clinical masters program, or at the PhD level. In short, a family therapist studies a collaboration between family theory, and developmental psychology which provides unique effectiveness in individual, couples, and family therapy.
The perspective of a family therapist considers the client's social context, inter-generational family narratives, and interactional behaviors between all family members or even with individuals. A Family Therapist is a psychotherapeutic approach that focuses on altering interactions between: couples, families, other interpersonal systems, or even how a person communicates with oneself. Because of this a Marriage and Family Therapist receive a broader view of the context of the problem, and is able to make sense of the person's behavior.
Some critical principals of Marriage and Family Therapists are: No person has the same circumstances in life or worldview, each person is the expert of their own life, therapy is impacted by important people in our lives who may not be in attendance in a session, people are doing their best and want to do their best, everything always changes, no behavior occurs all the time, and the times when problem are eliminated are key areas for finding solutions.
Because Marriage and Family Therapist often work with multiple people in a session, and adopt a collaborative therapeutic style. What this means is that a person or family create their own ways finding solutions and goals with the therapist. When this happens, the tendency is to increase resiliency, clearer communication, understanding of perspectives, and enrichment of emotional bonds.
What is an effective therapy?
Diane Gehart writes in Theory and Treatment Planning in Family Therapy: A Competency-Based Approach (2015) that mapping a successful therapeutic journey takes five steps. She discusses a therapeutic relationship as an uncharted territory that needs to be discovered.
Map the Territory.
Identify Oases and Obstacles
Select a Path
Track Your Progress
Leave a Trail