Is this really very practical? I need tools.
Some would say that the kind of work that I do is about seeking. I would agree to some extent, but I think of it more as training. This is a very practical approach and its goal is to help you train yourself to stop, assess, understand, be kind, ask for what you need, and be at peace with what comes next. You will seek inside yourself as we work together, but the goal is not endless seeking. It is to seek, to find, to learn, and to grow.
What is the difference between therapy & counseling?
People ask if I am a therapist and my first thought is to say, “No.” What I do is therapeutic, but I don’t see it as therapy in a strict sense. I feel that there is a power position that a therapist must take—a sense that they have or know answers that are inaccessible to the client. I don’t have the answers, but I do have a multidimensional approach to helping you find not the answers, but your answers. I never felt comfortable working with someone who, by their position, was “above” me. I sought out people who walked next to me, who work with me, who learned as I learned. This is what I offer, a proven, collaborative method to get you to your best self.
I want to work with you but I do not have a lot of funds. Can you help me?
I want you to be successful. That is my first goal. In doing so, I am fulfilling my own definition of success. Inherent in this is the idea that what I do should be for everyone. I do not want to hold this approach so closely, or at such a high price, that it is only available to the affluent or privileged. Therapists can charge over $150 an hour and that simply isn’t affordable for many. I have been told by some of my clients that I should charge more but I don’t because finances are not the center of how I define success. This is about health and health should not be something that requires wealth.
I’ve been to therapists in the past who make me feel like I am broken. How is this different?
You are not broken. You are not damaged. You are not bad. You are you and all that has come before has brought this beautiful you into existence. It is neither my job, nor my desire to dismantle, break, or change you. I can, however, help you shift, grow, understand and care for yourself. My clients come to me to discover and engage with themselves and it’s my life’s work to help them do this. That can’t happen, however, in an environment of judgement and value-imposition. I will meet you where you are, with open arms, an open heart, and an open mind.
Is this all “woo-woo” with crystals & stuff?
My work with clients is a practice. That word is specific and intentional. We all need a practice to grow from who we are and how we are in the world. There is no magic incantation or secret elixir that I sell, nor is there a religion or deity that will grant you wishes. This is work and practice and it resides in the very real world. Your goals are real and the way to reach them is real: clear tools to get to why you feel how you do and what to do from there. Clear and simple, but not always easy. That’s why we call it a practice.
5/5
Robin and I worked together for about 1 year. Our work together was a critical part of the healing that I needed to do to get through a difficult time in my life. Robin is a gentle, clear and firm guide. She was able to listen with deep empathy and then sensitively steer a course that somehow both followed my lead, and lead me down a healing path, with a clear direction and the right tools. It’s like she held my hand on my own journey and made it possible for me to face and bring love to all the unhealed parts of myself. Robin offered tools for me to use between sessions and was available to talk on the phone when I needed her. Robin’s commitment to her work, and to me was always apparent, as was her deep desire to help. – Laura B.