"Being With"

Therapy, counseling, treatment are industry names with a similar face. People come to therapy for various reasons. Some are interested being educated, some are motivated by situational stress and others experience ongoing conflicts and turmoil in their relationships. Therapeutic benefit is a rather subjective phrase and clearly defined by some appreciable and obvious improvement in the client’s situation/mood/behavior, etc. Clinical experience has taught us that achieving a positive and observable improvement or change in a person’s situation occurs due various components in the treatment process, teaching, guiding, assessing, coordinating to name a few. Perhaps, the most powerful and even most vital factor contributing to positive treatment outcome consists of “being with”. Being with involves the counselor’s sincere, genuine, unconditional investment in their client’s life. Being with is a dynamic, yet often subtle energy that exists between clinician and client; it is often described as “an intensity” and such is more often “felt” than seen. Most people that pursue counseling treatment are searching for this connectedness to another human being. A therapist’s ability to “be with” their client in a balanced psychologically intimate and professionally objective way is crucial to laying a foundation for relief, growth and mental health.

Therapeutic benefit is rarely achieved unless the therapeutic relationship is developed, maintained and maximized. Finding a therapist that can “be with” you in your efforts toward personal improvement is essential. You will “feel” it when it exists.