Collaboration in Counseling
People are not machines. It seems quite obvious but the fact has quite a bit to do with our approach to therapy. When a car is broken, a mechanic figures out what is wrong, takes out the broken part and puts in a new one. When a body is sick, the doctor diagnoses the cause, say a bacterial infection, and prescribes the cure – in this case an antibiotic. Bodies and cars are quite complex – I sure can’t figure them out. I leave that to the trained professionals. But people systems function differently. They have the choice to accept or reject changes. People are not machines because of the freedom of choice.
So how do we who desire to facilitate healing in people systems deal with this complicating fact? We embrace it! At Fuller Life Family Therapy Institute, our therapists recognize that you, the client are the expert on your life, your relationships, your culture, and your experiences. Our counselors think that expertise is a tremendous asset in the therapy room. In the context of conversation, we therapists add into the mix our expertise as facilitators of change. This is to say, we take the stance of inquisitive learners as you share with us rather than of presumptive fixers who impose our own ideas on you, the client. In this manner of collaboration, of combining our unique strengths, we believe problems resolve.
Resident Therapist at Fuller Life Family Therapy Institute
