Psychotherapy and me........

 

Hello my name is Gwen. I'm a licensed clinical social worker and I have worked in the behavioral health and substance abuse field for over 44yrs years. My first education in the area of counseling was in my third semester of college where I was introduced to the work of Dr. Carl Rogers. Dr. Rogers believes the role of the therapist is to be an empathic presence which creates a sense of safety. When you feel safe, it allows you to dive down deeper into your experience to figure out what happened, how is that playing out in your daily life and re-creating the suffering you are trying to avoid.

I believe everyone has the answers within themselves for all the questions they have about themselves and others. We live in a culture that doesn’t necessarily encourage reflection and self examination. In fact, for some it is discouraged. 

My empathic presence, will allow you to find your way as we walk through that experience again, seeking a sense of completion so it no longer occupies your body. Allowing you to fit better within yourself. Together we can gain deeper insight, and develop strategies to cope with emotions, and subsequent behaviors. 

Please let me offer you my perspective about emotion. I believe our emotions are our ‘feelings” are in response to what we are sensing outside of ourselves. These emotions can be used as a roadmap in life. A road map that allows learning to better to enable you to have more control over what you say and do. Learning through self-awareness and reflection can lead to greater inner peace. Our feelings are our internal cue to an external event guiding us to seek a life that can be fulfilling and building a sense of self...but it all starts will feeling. 

In my maturation process I had to learn strategies  to regulate my emotions,  tolerate the  frustration I may feel when I don’t get what I want. Please let me be clear I am not 100% on these skills of emotional regulation and frustration tolerance. In fact, I often don't  met my own expectations  of self control....and I do react more than I like but I accept I am human, doing the best I can, and reflect on those moments when I do behave in a manner I believe is incongruent with who I am on a spiritual level. I contemplate what happened, how I acted and what lead to me behave in that manner...learning what my triggers are that pulls my reaction gun. I have found living like this has brought me many challenges, I have climbed many mountains in this process of learning how to be effective in life. Never easy, never fun but fulfilling in the end. 

Please join me in the voyage of you, as you seek greater inner peace.