Janeth Leigh Bennett

LPC

Working with a client to determine his or her therapy goals is done in a collaborative way with a therapist. If I am that therapist, the client would work with me to determine what he wants his life to look like. For example, sometimes a client is stifled in an unhealthy relationship and cannot see the big picture of what life would look like in a healthy relationship. He may not even know what a healthy relationship is. With guidance, the client discusses and decides what a healthy relationship would be like for him and then identifies problems that are preventing that from happening. He and I would then set goals to address these stumbling blocks so that he can attain the desired outcome of a healthy relationship. Goals are basically steps to take you where you want to go.

I was a social worker for many years and knew the need for counselors. I had always hoped to get specific training that allowed me to become a counselor and so I set a goal to go back to school when my children got older. Well life sometimes throws baseballs and I became sick with a rare neuromuscular disease that rendered me nearly blind. After years of adjustment, a divorce, my children growing up, and getting a guide dog I made my move. My guide dog and I trooped off to college and graduated with a Masters degree in Counseling. Cannot keep an old gal or her dog down!

I think that one of the most insightful things I have learned in working as a mental health professional is that people have amazing resilience and determination to overcome problems and hardships even in the worst of situations. What may seem like a daunting and overwhelming problem in the beginning of therapy, often ends with the client having a much better understanding of himself and his abilities to overcome problems in general. It enables a catharsis which results in a much better understanding of the interbeing.