Welcome to Still Waters, where you’ll find health care professionals dedicated to providing you with the highest level of quality care. We want your experience here to be positive and growth promoting. We know that the decision to enter therapy is often difficult and your therapist will be glad to answer any questions you may have about the therapy process, his or her education and experience, or any concerns you may have.

Entering counseling takes courage. People often come to counseling when they are at a crossroads. The path that they have been on has not taken them where they want to go and they come to counseling in search of help and direction. In order for change to take place, the counselor must join with them at the crossroads and together, embark on a voyage of discovery. The success of the journey depends on the relationship that develops between the counselor and client and therefore it is important for the counselor to:

• Create an atmosphere that is collaborative, relaxed, safe and focused
• Instill hope
• Create a shared meaning
• Listen to the client’s story
• Gather information
• Work together with the client to establish realistic and attainable goals

Counseling entails making meaningful connections between affective experiences, cognitions, and behavior. The experience of each person in counseling will be different because what happens in counseling depends on each person’s needs. For you, the course and outcome of counseling will be influenced by how you choose to use each session, your particular counselor’s approach and experience, and your own knowledge, insight, experience, and motivation. 

Counseling requires an active effort on your part. In order for counseling to be most successful, you will have to work on things talked about both during your sessions and during the week.

Counseling can have benefits and risks. Insight and inner awareness often creates a state of disequilibrium and decreased satisfaction in counseling. Since counseling most often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life and your family history, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. At times you may feel worse before you begin to feel better. Therefore it is helpful to understand that a sense of disequilibrium can be a desirable step in your healing process.

Counseling has been shown to have many benefits as it can lead to improved relationships, solutions to specific problems, increased awareness, and a significant reduction in feelings of distress. Although there are no guarantees of what you will experience during the process of counseling, your active participation in the counseling process is necessary for progress to be made. Thus, we encourage you to attend all scheduled sessions.

We also want you to know that we at Still Waters are committed to rendering services in a professional manner consistent with accepted ethical and legal standards. Please note that it is impossible to guarantee any specific results regarding your counseling goals. However, together we will work to achieve the best possible results.