I Believe...

In compassionate practice and the importance of the therapeutic relationship. In an environment where clients feel respected, heard and understood they are able to (a) see solutions to their difficulties more clearly, (b) consider alternative ways of conceptualizing their problem, (c) experience, express and transform difficult emotions, (d) acquire new coping skills/strategies and (e) experiment with new ways of being with themselves and others.
Clients are resilient and have powerful internal resources that if accessed, can help them successfully overcome many of the challenges they may be facing.
Providing counselling/psychotherapy is both an art and a science. Empirical research needs to be understood by practitioners and this knowledge integrated into clinical practice in ways that will be most beneficial to clients.
In being flexible in considering treatment approaches when working with clients. I do not adhere to one theoretical approach but rather tend to let the client's theory of change and their understanding of their presenting difficulties guide the choices of therapeutic approaches or interventions I may suggest.
For some clients, generating insight and understanding is not enough to produce significant resolution of their presenting difficulties. To obtain and maintain lasting change and growth clients must develop a lifestyle that sustains the cognitive, emotional or behavioral changes they have been working on in counselling.
Counselling need not be a lengthy, intensive, or painful process to be helpful. Short term counselling that focuses on generating and implementing solutions to "here and now" difficulties can have significant positive effects on a persons overall quality of life.

The therapeutic relationship between you and your mental health professional will be an important influence on how you experience the counselling process. It is commonly recommended that you choose a mental health professional with whom you feel there is a good interpersonal "fit". Learning about your mental health provider's professional beliefs and values as well as their counselling style are important first steps towards determining how comfortable you may be in working with them.