07/03/2023
This is my counselling office in Coquitlam BC. My goal is to create a welcoming physical and emotional setting where clients can feel safe, heard, understood, vulnerable, curious, and confident to work on the four dimensions of change/problems they need to sort out for long-lasting transformation and wellbeing. 😀In therapy, a counsellor’s initial main goal is to create a strong therapeutic alliance so that clients can experience the transformation desired. Clients need to feel safe and protected so that they are comfortable to share their biggest concerns and fears without worrying about being judged, censored, or criticized; clients also need validation of their strengths, encouragement to develop consistent commitment, and a place for inner balance and empowerment so that they can experiment with new ways of coping and becoming. The counselling process is a journey of two, no doubt, but a journey that will request from the client to bring, into the counselling room, the many stories, beliefs, values and voices of the people who have influenced them. Counsellors and clients become a team moving toward planning, goal setting, and transformation.
This is what I’ve learned:
When somebody seeks therapy, a counsellor will pay attention to the four dimensions of clients’ problems/change:
1. The way clients relate within themselves.
2. The way clients relate to others.
3. The way clients relate to their past (developmental personal history).
4. The way clients manage their life stages/transitions.
1. To help clients change their own ways maybe an impossible task; however, to help clients change the way they are used to relating within themselves is not. There are many ways to do this with a counsellor’s guidance, as the numerous variations found in the main psychological theories. A counsellor helps clients identify the most suitable counselling approaches to their personality styles and specific needs. Clients discover that trying out new ways of restructuring self-talk, and behaviours can turn out to be something very liberating and exciting!
2. Clients can not change other people, but they can change the way they relate to them. With a therapist’s help, clients can change their habitual patterns of perceptions, communication, problem-solving strategies, and behaviours toward their family members, friends, co-workers, and clients. These new ways of interacting with others is initially practised in the counselling room. By changing ineffective ways of relating to others, clients eventually develop better coping strategies in their relationships and consequently they manage to develop better interactions and connections with others.
3. Clients can not change their past, but they can change the ways they relate to it. For example, clients can change the stories they tell themselves about their personal history or change their emotional response to past trauma. In therapy, clients learn how to get rid of unhealthy patterns and how to cope with triggers in a healthy way. When this happens, clients start feeling ‘hopeful’ about their change; this process of self-awareness, new ways of doing things, and renewed feelings of hope will strengthen their resilience, which is vital to effectively deal with life challenges, uncertainty, and change, in a nutshell, for the ability to experience a happier life.
4. Therapy can hep clients feel supported to manage challenging life-stages including, for example, starting university, a new career, getting married, having children, getting divorced, losing a beloved one, retiring, facing a chronic illness or even imminent death.
With increased awareness, and realization of how to generate change, clients start becoming more assertive in making choices and moving towards long-lasting wellbeing.
In my counselling office, I offer a welcoming physical and emotional setting where my clients can learn to feel safe, confident, and hopeful that transformation and wellbeing are possible. My office is in Coquitlam, BC. Canada. If you feel that I can be of help and you are ready for it, let’s start working together towards change and well-being! I also offer online sessions and make a point to create a welcoming platform for my clients’ development.
Check out the Psychology Today Directory to find out more information about myself, my counselling approach, and how to reach me. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/british-columbia?gclid=CjwKCAjw-vmkBhBMEiwAlrMeF3_vBQwoH497bHfD4WqmS9cfAXJ7kkNMG27HBfJ6-MFtA4Y-H5LNBRoC8soQAvD_BwE
