David Growcock

LPC

One of the most important things that people should know about therapy is that being worried, anxious, scared, fear of being judged, and trepidatious before coming to counseling is very normal. It is really hard to come to a complete stranger and talk to them about very personal problems. Most people do not realize how much strength is takes to come through a therapists door. I am always grateful that a person is willing to put their trust and faith in me to help them. I am not there to judge and in 99% of the time you are not going to say something I have not already heard or dealt with in the past. I really look at the therapy setting to be one where I am my clients employee and that they are paying me for specific skills that I can teach them. I also believe it is important that clients know that as worried as they are about talking to a therapist, the therapist is just as worried that they won't be able to connect with their clients.

A lot of my clients are experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. They often come in to see me where they are often struggling with what is occuring in their life. They often wonder what went wrong in their relationship. They had married a person that they cared about, loved, wanted to spend time with them, and saw as the person who was willing to support their dreams, start a family with, grow old with, create incredibly memories. Now they are feeling confusion, wondering what went wrong, where all the arguments came from, how these arguments get so far out of control, how there is now dread when your partner comes home. Then there is the suspicion when your partner gets a phone call or text message and walks out of the room, who are they talking with, what is going on, why this strange behavior, what are they doing. Than comes all the catastrophic thoughts, they are not happy, they want to leave, they are having an affair, you are going to be all alone, how are you going to manage this being divorced, you will never be able to love agin. So often the people I see are scared, worried, anxious, depressed, feeling like this is the worst thing that will ever occur in their life and they are not sure they will ever recover. These are all very normal feelings and actions for the majority of people I see and are completely normal and expected considering the situation

I see my personality as being very laid back, casual, relaxed but very personalble. I have often been referred to as a big teddy bear. That people are often surprised by my size and possibly gruff exterieor, but as they get to work with me and know who I am as a therapist that I am very caring. That I work really hard to find areas where I can connect and relate with them as I build rapport. I see myself as being the kind of person that is real, genuine, honest, and willing to learn recursively through my clients lived experiences. I really hope that clients see me as the person who is literally what you see is what you get and they appreciate that fact.