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Overview: the Process of Counseling

"I Have Friends.  Why Should I Try Counseling?"

What is an in-person session like?

Who I Am, Trusting Me, and More About My Expertise and Training

Schedule or Enter a Confidential Online Therapy or Email Session

Specializing in ...

• stress reduction, depression, anxiety

• improving mood, energy, relationship, and adjustment in home and work life

• trauma; substance use

• common and rare sexuality and gender questions, including BDSM relating, polyamory, and gender identity disorder

• personal spirituality explorations, mindfulness, meditation, holism

• more about my specialties and training ...

Through safe, client-paced ...

• talking and not-talking (not everyone is a “talker”)

• strengths-based, holistic work, relaxation, & mindfulness

• Reiki  (link under construction - please email Mia directly to schedule a distant Reiki treatment)

• gentle coaching, goal-setting, and problem-solving

in short-term & longer-term processes,
and
in internet and in-person sessions.

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A Place for Peace - Meditation Space

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Overview: The Process of Counseling

There are many ways to be truly Alive, to be happy and healthy in the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy which permeates, moves, and brings joy to all things.

Counseling is the grounded, unconditional, professional relationship within which we begin to bring our worries and this alive energy into awareness.

When we are aware, we begin making choices, we grow strong.

When we are making conscious choices, we can choose to promote our healthier thoughts, feelings, and actions in a way that feeds us, fills us, makes us feel fulfilled and complete, effective, at-One, at Peace.

Over time, this increasingly healthy cycle of acceptance, awareness, choosing, and acting becomes a natural habit, a way of Being. The acceptance, knowledge, nurturance, and skills found in the counseling relationship become natural, and clients gradually grow more relaxed, grounded and confident in their wisdom. They move on to other things, visiting to refresh skills as needed.

Become the truly Radiant You!

"I have friends. Why should I try counseling?"

In our noisy, industrialized, busy, depersonalized society, we often lose our sense of inner peace, our sense of self-caring, our sense of being wise and valued. We are constantly running, doing striving, pleasing; and achieving, or wondering why we cannot do-strive-please-achieve the way that others seem to.

In our haste, we sometimes slip off-balance, we lose our path, we disconnect from our ideals, our friends worry, and we miss learning things about life that other people somehow seem to just know. We have troubles at work, troubles at home, our children “act up,” and sometimes we even develop stress-related health problems. We worry and try to cope, until we find little pleasure in life and things begin to fall apart ...

Counseling, the art and science of effective growth and healing, can help you pull your life back together; you can strengthen your strengths and heal your weaknesses. It can provide an antidote to our hectic, stressful, unfulfilling way of living. Counseling is a peaceful place and time for reflection, integration of doing and non-doing, verbal and nonverbal, effortful and soothing, masculine and feminine, ways of Being in the world. It is a way to rest, refill, and resolve, in ways that are more thorough and more lasting than you might imagine. We grow more skilled in adjusting our sails, rather than trying to control the wind.

Further, counseling offers legitimate shortcuts, a focused processing of issues and life questions. You get to say anything, without worrying about what your friends will think and feel. We can bring about growth and healing more quickly and more gently than if you were to struggle alone. We can even turn to less-verbal forms of expression, offering support and relief to adults who are not natural “talkers,” for children, and for issues that seem to be beyond words.

What is an in-person session like?

I offer a safe, intelligent, strengths-based, growthful approach that helps you and-or your family to be the most true to yourselves, while offering interesting new ideas to help meet your challenges. Because I have worked with many people and educate myself constantly, I can tap into many sources of wisdom and experience to help each of you decide how to set and meet your goals successfully. We can work through the hard things and the easier things at a pace that suits each of you and your lifestyles.

In the first session, after we introduce ourselves, I will tell you about safety and confidentiality. Then, we can talk about your needs, concerns, and ideas, as well as the things you've tried already. Then, I will share ideas from my professional perspective, and we can combine your ideas with information and strategies that other people have found helpful.

Sometimes, we can begin to develop short-term solutions during the very first session. Sometimes, it is important to wait and learn, so we might avoid problem-solving for awhile. In this way, we learn how to work together for the best well-being of each of you. In any kind of therapy, this introduction usually takes from one to three sessions.

Then, when you and-or your family member(s) are ready, we move in and out of the heart of the matter, working with it, resting, and playing, all in balance, and all with your well-being and highest functioning in mind. We work until each of you feels like you've dealt with things well.

After finishing their work with me, most people like to check-in occasionally, reviewing and refreshing their skills, and revisiting a safe place to Be and to grow.

Who I Am and How to Decide if You Want to Trust Me ...

You are welcome to learn about me by viewing my Clients' Rights and Consent form.  It contains information about your legal and ethical rights as a client, my role with you, my education, training and specialties, and fee and billing information.  You can learn a lot about me by thinking about the information I share and the way I share it.  And, if you have more detailed questions, please read even more about my background, specialties, and experience.  Of course, I welcome emails too!

When you decide to begin work with me, I will provide you with an intake form.  This form will help me understand what you want to work on, and your history with the issue(s). And, it will help you think in more detail about what is bringing you to me, why it is coming up now, and the goals that you have in dealing with it.

Lastly, it is a place to begin venting a bit, sharing what you've carried alone for so long. I will ask you to sign and date both documents, then mail/fax the consent page and the intake form to me.  I will keep the process easy and straightforward.

More About My Areas of Expertise and Training

  
I have 20 years of experience in human development, education, and psychology.  I have worked with

• children, families in Early Childhood Education,

• teens in a GLBT peer support group,

• young adults making gender transitions,

• adults and elders diagnosed with major mental illnesses,

• young and mid-life adults in the range of life issues,

• hundreds of people online, in holistic well-being and Reiki  (link under construction - please email Mia directly to schedule a distant Reiki treatment)

I have special training and expertise in issues of:

• stress reduction, mindfulness

• adjustment issues - improving mood, energy, and functioning in relationships, at home, and at work

• issues of attention, focus, motivation

• alleviating depression

• substance use (particularly from a harm-reduction standpoint, not strictly abstinence unless that's needed)

• healing trauma, traumatized development, traumatized sexuality

• living successfully with major mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (manic depression), and "personality" disorders - aka Complex Trauma)

• issues faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allied youth and adults

• gender exploration (GID) from early questioning, to coming out, to choices about hormone therapies and surgeries, including personal, family, and job concerns

• difficulties with eating and food

• relationship issues, within families and groups, whether single, married, divorced, monogamous, polyamorous, or other relationship structures

• sexuality issues faced by folks of all genders and sexual-relational orientations

• mindfulness and spirituality explorations

• alleviating symptoms of cancer, other medical illnesses, and fears and phobias through powerful guided imagery and simple breathwork

• Reiki and energywork, for those folks who wish to work at that level  (link under construction - please email Mia directly to schedule a distant Reiki treatment)

I do very good general counseling, and have special training in:

• holistic counseling - bringing the strengths of mind-body- emotions-spirit to contribute to your well-being

• expressive arts therapies - beyond words

• sexuality counseling - duscussing the most intimate of topics with sensitivity and grace

• short term counseling - for very specific problems and for folks who are, by nature, problem-solvers

• paradigm shifts - radically changing the way we think about an issue or our approach to life

• using the "placebo effect" as a tool to empower growth and healing - the mind and imagination are very powerful, yet we rarely use them towards our own well-being

• Reiki Master - Reiki is a form of holistic healing that I make available to those who would like it.  (link under construction - please email Mia directly to schedule a distant Reiki treatment)

** Please note that my specialties are just that, special areas of training and expertise.  We can still work together if you want to do good general or specific therapy without tapping into my specialties.

Further, I educate myself constantly, studying and training with colleagues and mentors, do I invite my clients to teach me about themselves and their needs, too.  And, I am supervised locally by a licensed psychologist with 30 years of experience in the field; so, when you work with me, you get both cutting-edge training and the wisdom of a lifetime.

I have chosen a safe, confidential chat and email service for online therapy sessions.

Please note that this will not be the sort of chat or email you might expect online.

This will be a sacred space, between only you and me, invisible to others.  Our sessions will be confidential and honest like an in-person therapy session, with us talking via typing instead of out loud.  They will be focused on your needs and goals; I will be in service to you, hired by you to help you improve strengths and work through a problem, issue, fear, or worry, using those strengths.

Oftentimes the seeming anonymity of the internet makes honesty and introspection much easier.  

Scheduling certainly is easier!

An online session might look like this:

For email:  Your own email address will be our email connection, so that it is comfortable, safe, and familiar to you.  You can choose encryption (confidentiality) at whatever level you prefer.  My email address is radiancestudios@mosquitonet.com , and I will always send my emails in the safesst manner possible, towards your highest degree of confidentiality; I have full encryption available. 
What to talk about?  We will have context already, having exchanged emails to set up the relationship, fill out the forms, and schedule the number or frequency of contacts.  Thus, the sessions will more naturally follow.  At the day and time we have arranged, I will send you an email asking you to introduce or describe in further detail the issue(s) that have brought you to work with me.  I will invite you to bring up any issues that have come to mind or to emotion during our time apart.  You can respond whenever you want, whenever you have thoughts or felings to express, making suer that you send your reply in time for our session.  If you have trouble thinking of anything to say, you can sit in silence awhile, just like in regular sessions; or, you can refer to some of the things we've talked about in past emails, to help you get started.  We will discuss both your strengths and concerns, and help you find ways to improve your life in both the short and long terms. 
Depending on the needs and strengths you bring, the time and energy you have for the process of growth and healing, the degree of pleasure you take in talking problems through, and other gifts that life brings, we will usually take a few sessions to find a comfortable rhythm.  At some point thereafter, you will find yourself feeling more comfortable bringing up your concerns and working them through deeply and well.


For chat:  The chat service is Javascript-based, IRC-based, free, and confidential. At the time we have scheduled, we will each enter the chat channel, just like stepping into my office. You will be able to see your nickname entering the chat system, but nobody else will be able to see you, unless you want them to. Once you have entered, I will invite you into a direct connection, that is invisible ("secret") to everyone else, and will ask you to quit the chat room. 
We will remain connected, able to chat with complete privacy. 
We will take a moment to adjust to being together, perhaps in a guided meditation if you like.  Then, I will ask you how things have been since the last time we connected via email or chat, and invite you to bring up any ideas or issues that have come to mind or to emotion during our time apart.  If you have trouble thinking of anything to say, we can sit in silence awhile, just like in regular sessions; or, I can bring up some of the things we've talked about so far, in a kind reminder to help you get started.  We will discuss both your strengths and concerns, and help you find ways to improve your life in both the short and long terms.  Depending on the needs and strengths you bring, the time and energy you have for the process of growth and healing, the degree of pleasure you take in talking problems through, and other gifts that life brings, we will usually take a few sessions to find a comfortable rhythm. 
At some point thereafter, you will find yourself feeling more comfortable bringing up your concerns and working them through deeply and well.

In general:  For your protection and mine, I do kindly ask that you use antivirus software, and that you keep your virus signatures updated at least monthly, or more frequently if your service supplies updates more often.  I use Symantec's Norton Antivirus software and update and scan weekly, at a minumum.

Chat Here, using the channel we agreed upon in our email: 

A Place for Peace - Meditation Space

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You will be guided through a brief meditation focusing on your deep, inner peace and well-being.

Love of Life is an Emotion and an Action

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