Janice R. Miles

LMFT

Success in therapy will look different for everyone, especially depending on the goals you have set for yourself. We will conduct periodic discussions around your view of your progress, and the therapeutic process, to ensure we are on the right track towards reaching your goals. But not completing your goals does not mean that therapy was not successful. Each person will progress and learn different skills during the journey. They will also grow and learn different things about themselves. Sometimes, they will learn that their original goal no longer fits, and that's ok too. These reviews will give us the opportunity to make appropriate adjustments and plan accordingly going forward.

Therapy goals are determined with you and by you. People typically enter therapy with an idea of what they would like to change. During our first meeting we will discuss what that is and what you envision that to look like when therapy is successful. I don't believe in setting therapy goals for or without you for two reasons: 1) you are the expert of your life; you know what changes are comfortable and make sense for you, and 2) you will have a greater chance at success if you are invested in your goals; you will not Be motivated to change the things you want to stay the same.

Many people enter therapy with the misconception that the therapist is going to tell you what to do and fix all your problems for you. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Therapist can and will support you through learning necessary skills that will help you create change, but the work is yours to do. And, in the end, the success will be yours as well. It is like the old adage about teaching a man to fish; by teaching you the skills, you will be able to not only manage your current situation better, you will also be better equipped to manage other similar situations in the future.