Written by Catherine Hall, LMSW
CoreStory clinician
[Click here to read more about her]
As a therapist, I am often asked to explain how therapy works. It isn’t always an easy question to answer, considering that each client comes to therapy with different needs, challenges, and strengths. However, while the “active ingredient” of therapy may vary from person to person, there are two important elements that are almost always present in an effective treatment.
How does therapy work? Finding connection and telling your stories.
First, the quality of the therapeutic alliance—the relationship between the therapist and the client—is one of the most important factors in a successful course of therapy. One of my fellow CoreStory therapists writes about it beautifully here. Secondly, an essential part of our job as therapists is to help you tell your stories, to understand them, and sometimes, to author new ones.
The narratives we “write” and the narratives imposed on us have a direct impact on the way we feel, how we function, and how we relate to others. For me, therapy is, in part, a collaborative effort to identify the helpful narratives and reconsider the ones that may be harmful or limiting to clients’ wellbeing.
Why now and what next? You belong.
In 2020, all of our stories took an unexpected turn. For some, the pause necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity to slow down and consider new possibilities for moving forward. For others, it was a devastating plot twist steeped in loss, disappointment, and anger. In any case, each of us was forced to write a new chapter as a result of the pandemic and resulting changes in the world. If you’re struggling to make sense of a new story line that has emerged from the crisis, you’re not alone.
A concern I hear from a lot of folks thinking about starting therapy is that they don’t “belong” there. Their problems are too small, or too big; not deserving of treatment, or too difficult to tackle. In my view, if you think you could benefit from new insight and guidance during a difficult time, you belong in therapy. If life’s curveballs have left you uncertain about how to turn the page, you belong. If you want to make changes, big or small, you belong. If you’re a person with a story, you belong and you should tell it. I look forward to helping you do so.
Catherine Hall, LMSW is excited to join the talented, warm, and welcoming team of clinicians helping people tell their stories through talk therapy at CoreStory! More information about her is available on our website. To schedule a consultation, please contact our office.