My name
is Aaron Arnold. I am an intern Family Therapist and new addition to the
ongoing ministries of New Hope. Although there is much I might attempt to
expound in future posts, I thought it best to begin with a brief reflection on
therapy itself.
I believe
therapy is a relationship that promotes health, particularly mental/emotional
health. That begs the question what is health? The best definition of
health—and the easiest to remember—that I have heard and happily borrow from
one of my professors at Evangelical Seminary, Myerstown, PA, Dr. Robb Palmer
is: mental health is the making of good connections in all directions.
Therapy then is a relationship that promotes the making of good connections in
all directions.
What
does that look like? While therapy might take place in a variety of contexts,
it usually takes place in an office. What might you expect walking into an
office and meeting this or another therapist? Hopefully, you will encounter a
person who is interested in you, not
simply your mental life and workings, but someone who takes an interest in your
person, someone interested in comprehending the mystery of who you are, have
been, and might become, someone willing to walk with you into the deserted,
lonely, frightening, or painful places of your life and also the sparkling,
lush, enlivening, exuberant places of your life alongside of you. Hopefully,
you encounter a therapist full of wonder at the small part of you that you
might wish to be comprehended at the time and as much of you as they in some
small way are able to comprehend.
Such
therapists begin as all therapists with assessments, which explore these
landscapes of clients’ lives. Assessments can be formal and use questionnaires,
reports, or measures of informal, active listening with intent. It is always
fair to ask a therapist what it is he or she is trying to assess or what he or
she is listening for. Many clients find that being heard, being seen, being
understood, mapping those landscapes of their lives to be very meaningful. It might
be that doing so opens up new areas of activity, possibilities of growth, or
increased awareness of which are the rugged and which are the level paths open
to them.
While
the process of assessment, of exploring and mapping is ongoing, doing so is a
particular focus at the outset of therapy. Once an initial ‘working’ map has
been developed, the focus of therapy usually shifts to actually navigating the
landscape. Often in this working phase of therapy, new paths are made through
the development of communication skills, problem-solving skills, and
identification of latent resources.
Often
the horizons of one’s life, the borders of one’s working map, intersect with
others’. Therapists sometimes discover two people might be like neighbors
arguing over the placement of or necessity of a fence; others might be like
neighbors negotiating access to certain resources. Couples and families might
seek therapy for any number of reasons. Therapists might be employed as
consultants, guides, interpreters, surveyors, etc. depending on their scope of
practice and qualifications.
All
therapists offer a third-party perspective and some specialized knowledge of
ways others have managed similar circumstances. Therapists have limits in their
competencies and biases. A good therapist can acknowledge his or her own
horizons and limits of perspective, and it is always fair to ask a therapist
about his or her training, limitations, or biases. There are no perfect
therapists, and not every therapist will be the right therapist for you, but
every therapist should be able to recommend alternative services, whether the
therapist or client believe that another provider would be more suitable.
Aaron
Arnold
Counseling
Intern