I’m a counselor and mentor. You can think of Encounters as adventures in personal development. Your sense of self, past, present and future has defined the world as you know it. My job is to help you redefine that world, to travel beyond its boundaries.
Helping people unravel the mystery of their self-doubt and the uncertainty that may consume and fragment their lives will be the primary focus. In other words, getting unstuck! With Encounters, the focus is mentoring.
The need for mentoring is universal; it applies to all of us, even me and yes I have mentors. That is intentional on my behalf. It helps with sustaining and assuring my own personal growth and progress. It just makes sense. I won’t preach what I don’t practice. Ethically it would be inappropriate.
Human beings are hardwired for intimate connections while our culture is not, and the result is there are consequences that people can feel powerless over.
It’s important to note that who we become in life is generally a reflection of our accumulated experience. With whom and how we interact with others shapes and defines us over time. We can stay the same or we can evolve and grow. As a result, “Self”-discovery as an agent of change is most successful when paired with an experienced mentor. This is, ideally, someone outside of your family circle.
So, that is what I do. I am also a Certified Trauma Professional, have training in CBT and hold a certification in tech addictions. While my background is in addiction counseling, that will not be the focus of services with Encounters. Here, the focus is mentoring. Mentoring for students @ HS and college level focused on achievement and self-reliance is also available.
The purpose of Encounters is to provide a strategy and process that promotes growth and self-awareness through mentoring. Encounters provides a means of exploring what it is that limits or inhibits our personal evolution. Encounters is a method through which we examine and define the origins of our sense of self. Based on that understanding, we then redefine the future and embrace all of life’s possibilities.
Very simply, it is all about you and what your future is going to look like from this point forward. A stronger you will translate into a more diverse and rewarding future.
By the way, the mentoring process is more than having a supportive relationship with another human being. It is also about what there is that you can and will do to for yourself. How many ways can a person become more effective and successful in all of their circumstances? The answer lies in how we embrace our primary relationship, the one within.
All of my work revolves around one core clinical observation. Whatever you may be struggling with in life it is attached in some way to our universal need for the acceptance, approval and admiration of others.
If we move through life insecurely it is a reflection of a deficit in your experience with this primary need. The insecure aspect of this presents itself as all sorts of behavioral and relational problems.
Too simple? Not at all! Our sense of self is wrapped around this internal perspective. That perspective shapes and defines the world as we, each individually, have created it. As your mentor I will help you un-wrap that package and you will re-imagine the future. That’s the goal plain and simple. Goals are important!
Observe, investigate, reflect, respond and repeat. This is the process. It may sound simplistic, but that happens to be the process you use to establish and maintain your very complex relationships with the world and everyone in it. Our brains facilitate the process automatically, it’s almost instantaneous.
A Mentor fills the shoes of a guide, confidant, counselor, teacher, tutor, coach, and instructor. As your guide and confidant I will teach you how to reorganize what is, into what it can be. Your version of “what can be” of course! This is the process all of my clients have participated in. Self-discovery carries with it a lot of benefits. Take action!
Here are some of the topics that come up most frequently.
The list of topics may seem daunting, but the truth is each one relates to the others. As one topic begins to resolve itself others can be strengthened too. New skills beget new outcomes across the board over time.
You are hard-wired for connection. Reach out and begin the adventure.
What to expect from me:
What are your responsibilities:
I acknowledge that some of these may be what you want help with. That’s OK. The only thing set in stone is helping you make progress.