About
It’s Time to Do Therapy Different
Mental health services have been seen in a negative light for far too long.
People have avoided seeking help for fear of being judged as “crazy” or “weak” by their family, friends, society, or even their therapist.
What would happen if mental health services began to be seen for what they truly are – a dignified, hopeful, life changing, and positive CHOICE?
When people feel comfortable and empowered to seek help, precious life moments are spent living better rather than suffering.
Life Inspired Counseling is on a mission.
A mission to provide mental health services (counseling, therapy, psychotherapy, coaching, whatever we choose to call it) to our community and to our planet in a different way.
My hope at Life Inspired Counseling is to eliminate the stigma that has historically been associated with seeking help outside our circle of family and friends.
I hope the stigma formerly associated with therapy becomes a distant memory so that more people can start the process of healing sooner.
Through this different way of doing therapy, I aim to transform how our community, country, and, honestly, the planet (yup…I, along with my international colleagues, have BIG hopes and plans!) view the decision to seek therapy.
As mental health professionals, we must start providing services in a way that will support this shift.
To achieve this change, we must help differently.
Unfortunately, insurance companies and mental health professionals have, for years, led us down the path of assessment.
Assessment of everything that is wrong with us so that we can diagnose, develop treatment plans to change us, and then bill insurance for a disorder (yes, that is how our field has talked about symptoms like depression and anxiety – as disorders rather than symptoms that any one of us could develop short-term as a result of dealing with difficult life stuff).
No wonder we haven’t been eager to meet with a therapist.
Who wants to be asked questions about everything that is wrong with them and told what to do to change? Not me!
Different at Life Inspired Counseling means a different starting point.
I believe in starting with identifying an outcome or your hopes for our time together.
Rather than me asking you all of the questions about what is wrong with you, I work with you to help you to identify your very “best hopes” (a lovely term I’ve embraced from my mentors at BRIEF in London – in case you were wondering about that strange phrase here in America) from our meeting.
Not sure how to answer that question?
That’s okay, I am an expert in helping you to figure it out.
After we both know what you hope to get out of our time together, we then engage in conversations that help you move toward your preferred way of experiencing life.
Many therapy approaches focus on figuring out when something is wrong and removing it.
Solution-focused brief therapy (the therapy I’ve received tons of training to do) is about identifying what you want to be right and creating it.
Our conversations will focus primarily on:
- What you want to be different
- What strengths, resources and past accomplishments you possess that can help you to get to the different that is right for you
- Detailed descriptions of the change you most want to see
- What’s been better and how you’ve been accomplishing the better
You will see results from this different approach.
You’ll have relief knowing that the person sitting across from you believes you, believes in you, and believes in your ability to live a better life, the life that is right for you.
I will not judge you or your choices, but rather look for all that is right with you and see that you are simply a person with some symptoms that you want to diminish or disappear.
You’ll have faster progress.
We start with what you want and do not tend to spend loads of time rehashing and digging up the past, other than uncovering the survivor skills you possess.
We’ll have solution-focused conversations that feel significantly different from problem-focused ones leading to a more positive experience in therapy.
You’ll build capability and discover you have way more coping skills and ways of surviving and dealing with life than you ever thought possible. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, because they will.
There are plenty of therapists who will tell you that you have to learn a bazillion things in order to get better. That’s just not true.
I work with what you have and amplify those traits and qualities. And… together we may craft a few new ways of coping that are matched specifically to you and will feel doable.
You’ll gain hope and belief that things can get better and that you can handle what life throws your way.
Gone are the days when seeing a therapist meant finding everything that is wrong with you.
I’ll respect you, support you, and have hope for you to live the live you most want.
I’ll guide and assist you along your journey to a better life, a better future, and a better you.
I do this by exploring what fits with your beliefs, your values, and your way of being in this world.
I’m confident you will find that hope grows here.
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
– Socrates