I am a born “multitasker;” I absolutely love what I do and I can’t imagine doing anything else.  Consistent with the teachings of Carl Rogers and Marshall Rosenberg, I believe that happiness and life-satisfaction come from engaging in activities that are consistent with one’s values and facilitate meeting one’s needs.  Nearly every activity that I am involved in meets my needs for stimulation, contribution, and growth and therefore enriches my life and energizes me and motivates me to do more.

 

I have found that many people seem to have lost their way.  They have followed paths they believe they “should” take and find themselves asking how they got there, or why they are not as happy as they expected to be.  Sometimes the distress associated with this experience is mild, leaving clients wanting merely coaching and direction.  In other cases, it results in various forms of psychological problems, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, and conflicts with others that severely impact their happiness and fulfillment in their daily life.

 

I believe at the heart of therapy is empathy, i.e. the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.  It is a critical component throughout the therapeutic process in many ways.  My empathy for clients enables them to identify their feelings and needs, and accept and value them.  This understanding and acceptance of oneself is the essence of self-empathy.  Once clients can empathize with themselves, they are better able to empathize with others, which allows them to understand and accept others and form meaningful and fulfilling relationships.

 

I have found that this is a cross-cultural process and therefore is very effective with clients, no matter their background or presenting problem. While therapy requires work and commitment on both sides and can thus be challenging, it is well worth the investment of time and energy.

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“The relationship which I have found helpful is characterized by a sort of transparency on my part, in which my real feelings are evident; by an acceptance of this other person as a separate person with value in his own right; and by a deep empathic understanding which enables me to see his private world through his eyes.” 

 

–Carl Rogers