Taking the first step to contacting a counselor (or pscyhotherapist) can be scarey and overwhelming, especially if you have never done it before and don't know what to expect.  Perhaps someone suggested to you that you should see a counselor, or perhaps you have determined that what you are experiencing is beyond your skills and abilities to handle.

If so, congratulations!!  Starting to look for a counselor and admitting that you could use another person's assistance is a courageous step in your own process of growth an/or healing.  Many folks continue to re-hash the same ineffective strategies and cling to them because they are so afraid of what change would look like and how much work it could be.  

So what can you expect from starting individual counseling at Connexus?  You should expect that you will be treated as the wonderful and beautiful human being that you are, regardless of how you think or act.  My philosophy is that every person merits, by virtue of them being human, an experience of themselves as worthy and valuable.  

The counseling process often feels that it is a slow start for some, and this is because it is important to develop a sense of trust and safety with your therapist.  This does not happen overnight, especially if your experience of people is that they are going to hurt you, reject you, or otherwise abandon you if you let them really know you.  For many clients, even those who have worked with several therapists, they may carry their own expectations around what they SHOULD do.  This notion often inhibits them from discovering what they CAN do.

 At Connexus, my approach is that the work of healing, recovery, and growth happens for individuals on several fronts (cognitive awareness, behavior change, and emotional exploration) and that all of this happens within the context of your relationships.  Your relationship with me as your therapist must be both 'safe enough' for you to risk being vulnerable, while at the same time being 'risky enough' for you to learn about and develop your own skills, resources, and competencies--perhaps for the first time in your life!  As such, counseling therapy at Connexus involves an experiential approach (rather than dydactic) in which you experience new feelings, thoughts, and outcomes in session.  With these new experience you are able to begin making the changes that YOU want in your life.

Find out more about:

Individual Counseling
Couples Counseling
Sex Therapy
Trauma Recovery
Addictions Counseling
Men's Issues