Approach to Therapy
I believe that within a safe and collaborative therapy relationship, significant personal growth can occur. As such, one of my foremost goals as a therapist is to help create a safe and empowering relationship. It is vital clients feel safe enough to talk about any issue or feeling that is impacting their lives. This allows the client to explore a whole range of feelings and experiences that might otherwise be unacknowledged or misunderstood. With access and insight into these experiences, clients are better able to establish a more complete and true sense of themselves.
Another important, initial goal of therapy is to address the client's most debilitating symptoms (e.g. anxiety, depression, destructive eating patterns). Over time, we can then put these pressing problems into a larger personal context so that greater self-awareness and insight can occur. This includes understanding underlying causes and triggers for the problems that result in unproductive patterns of behaving and relating to others.
Continuity and commitment in therapy are essential for real change. Thus, I recommend that we meet on a regular basis - typically once a week - to ensure the best possible results.
- Dr. Kerry Aikman