How Counseling Helps You

How Counseling Helps….

It Helps You Develop Personal Resources

I strongly believe, and research supports, that personal resources are an important part of healing in counseling.  Resources can be inside of you, like your sense of confidence and self-esteem, as well as external resources such as social support. I help you focus on your existing strengths and resources as well as help you develop new ones.

It Helps You Find Deeper Answers To Your Questions

I offer body-centered psychotherapy, which helps you gently connect with your physical sensations and body.  You often find solutions to problems that can’t be “figured out” with your mind alone. Developing this kind of connection provides you with a unique understanding of yourself and your life experiences, and becomes an ongoing internal resource.

It Helps All Of You

The counseling I practice considers “all” of who you are: your emotions, your mind, your body and your spirit.  This holistic counseling approach is to help you individually assess and address your needs in each of these areas. Concerns in any one (or all) of these areas may be creating difficulties in your life.  You will function best when your heart, mind, spirit and body are at peace and “on the same page”.

It Helps You Become More Aware and Compassionate

Counseling also helps by developing your capacity for mindfulness, or mindful awareness.  Mindful awareness, with compassion and kindness, has tremendous power to transform and heal.  Although there are many definitions of mindfulness, a frequently quoted definition from Jon Kabat-Zinn is that “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”  I also like this definition offered by scientist and author Daniel J. Siegel in The Mindful Brain:  “Mindfulness in its most general sense is about waking up from life on automatic, and being sensitive to novelty in our everyday experiences.”

It Helps You Become More Resilient

Your ability to respond to stressful events and then calm down is called “resilience”.  Somatic Experiencing® is a system of healing techniques designed to teach you how to help you calm down after a stressful event(s), as well as relieve the symptoms of ongoing and chronic stress.  As a result, you become more resilient, can handle stress better and actually enjoy life more. Where appropriate I will offer Somatic Experiencing®, in which I am Certified Practitioner, in your counseling.  To learn more about Somatic Experiencing, click here.

Counseling Is The Gift of Self-Care

Your choice to devote time and energy to counseling is the first, and ultimately the most, important healing factor in the therapeutic process.

Counseling is a very personal and valuable experience. It is a gift of caring to yourself and the people you care about.  It is a prioritizing of your precious time and resources to take action in support of yourself, your health, your needs, and your dreams.

Some Specific Examples of How Counseling Can Help You

Below is a list of the kinds of positive changes that you can experience from counseling:

• Recover from debilitating anxiety and depression.
• Create friendships, and improve existing relationships.
• Stop blame and fighting in relationships and marriages; learn to communicate in ways that get both parties needs met.
• Heal wounds created by childhood abuse or neglect.
• Stop destructive behaviors like addictions.
• Discover and develop hobbies, interests and passions.
• Improve work satisfaction, and work more effectively with co-workers, employees and supervisors.
• Find or create work that is more emotionally and financially rewarding.
• Become part of supportive civic, religious or spiritual communities.
• Discover or deepen experiences of spirituality and peace in day today life.

Call or email me for a FREE 15 minute phone consultation!

Karen Caffrey, LPC, JD, Counseling and Psychotherapy in West Hartford, CT  06107