By: Logan Cohen, LMFT-S founder of New Leaf Counseling Group, LLC
All I have ever wanted to do is be a Professional Therapist. Since hearing my mother tell stories as a little Boy of being a social worker in the 1960s in inner-city Atlanta, this has been The Dream (read more here). I know, I know...I'm probably a little weird...however all of us other devoted "weirdo" Therapists have one thing in common...we are drawn to this Professional Field for the right reasons; we love being close to, learning more about, and supporting other Human Beings in need.
I stumbled across this article from Psychotherapy Networker, which does a great job of describing one of the most important, yet most subtle parts of the therapeutic growth process. Check out this small excerpt below, which I will go on further to describe in more detail through the rest of this review article:
"My therapist's willingness to trade the comfort and security of her office for the ill-defined crossroads where the role of professional helper meets simple human concern would be considered a boundary crossing by some. Recognizing that the physical and psychic dislocations that followed my surgery had hit me at the most primal level, she went beyond the normal definition of a therapist's role to soothe my wordless panic and ground me in the warmth of a familiar connection. In doing so, she demonstrated the difference between a boundary crossing and a boundary violation, and, more important, what it means to offer a simple act of grace to another human being."
This excerpt describes the part of a process with a GREAT Therapist where the nature of the Therapy process itself makes you KNOW that your Therapist cares about YOU as a Human Being. One of the ways this happens is when the Therapist insists on being accessible as a HUMAN BEING to our Clients and opening up our own Humanity to the process itself WITH our Clients.
Traditional schools of Counseling and Therapy oftentimes make the mistake of teaching trainees and young therapists that the most important part of the therapeutic process is therapist neutrality, described as the ability of the Therapist to be an "objective observer" as a "True Scientist" should. While this IS very important, it cannot be more important than authentically encountering the Client with our own Being; the ability for the Therapist to display a full range of emotion Ourselves in a manner that develops closeness, trust, and security in the Therapeutic Relationship. In fact, I have found that this is actually what holds space for and contains the therapeutic process itself. Over the many thousands of hours I have spent in therapeutic clinical spaces with clients, I have developed a great reverence and respect for this aspect of Psychotherapy and have found that with many of my trainees and supervisees, that this is actually what separates a good therapist from a GREAT therapist.
We have a wide range of clinical skills, specialty areas, and niches between us as Professional Counselors and Therapists at New Leaf Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC. With that being said, one thing that all of the Professional Counselors and Therapists at New Leaf Counseling Group share is our dedication to Humanity and providing a high quality therapeutic experience - founded in basic Human connection, safety, and compassion.
Care to learn more about Professional Counselors and Therapists in Charlotte, NC? New leaf Counseling Group specializes in treating concerns related to Mental Health with a down-to-earth approach. Find a therapist near you , or just click here for more information designed to support You AND Your most important relationships. Are you ready to take action? Click here to BOOK NOW!