John Weagley LCSW

If therapy were to be truly successful how would you know, what would change? Looking at scaling questions i.e. PHQ 9 and GAD 7 I will ask patients depending where they score; how would you know if you were able to move just one increment beyond where you are? In the foregoing paragraph I've hinted at some of my approach to goal-setting. Oftentimes it emerges from being able to identify old belief systems that are causing a present experience of failure. Unwanted emotions often arise from toxic belief systems. All and all the transformation or abandonment of these beliefs needs to be organic, emerging from the patient. What I like to do is to model some possibilities, and working collaboratively create new scripts that result in more satisfying emotional outcomes.

People that overall seem to have a smoother ride through life are served by having an adaptive flexibility. In short, they have a variety of methods that can be brought to bear to life's challenges. Being short-suited, they tend to overplay the limited emotional management skills in situations where they don't fit. To the point, "if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Our skill sets for managing interpersonal relationships often hearken back to the years of our upbringing. We learn what it means to be a man or a woman, what to expect if people disagree, how to handle conflict, what to expect if I need help etc. These habits tend to be reenacted in every situation that is resonant with this past energy.

Although I have worked many years alone, supervision gives me the opportunity of better evaluating my own perspectives and effectively targeting my treatment course.

• New Jersey, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 44sc00577400

It has now been nearly 30 years since I left graduate school. Though much time has passed, I remain in total awe and deep respect of the many people that have come through my doors. How could it be otherwise, for changing yourself is the hardest work that anyone could do. Princes and paupers have sat in my presence facing the challenges common to people in general. All of us go through a process of learning our place, leaving us with a host of beliefs that both smooth and roughen the edges of our relationships with the world in general. It has been my privilege to walk the paths of my patient's lives drawing attention to things unseen, observing the roots they've tripped across, and forging a new pathway ahead. The tools of my work come from a mixture of Gestalt therapy and CBT, but are always modified to the particular needs of my patients.