Welcome
Welcome to my very first blog. I am a marriage and family therapist in San Francisco, California, and this blog is an adjunct to my professional website.
The idea for this blog came in part from talking with friends, colleagues, and clients over time about therapy and therapists. Many people are fascinated by the ritual of therapy, even if they have never gone to a therapist themselves. I am asked the same questions about therapy over and over. Why would someone want to go to therapy and talk about their problems for an hour? Why would someone want to become a therapist and spend their days listening to other people? And what's up with therapists and their strange behaviors — their blank stares, their cryptic comments ("Hmmm, how do you feel about that?"), and their long silences?
The Internet has given us new ways to express our ideas to a wide audience, so I decided it would be a fun and interesting experiment to put down some of my thoughts about questions like these in a blog. It also gives me a chance to write, something I don't always have an opportunity to do these days.
One interesting thing about blogging is that it encourages self-revelation, and self-revelation is not something that therapists are generally known for. In fact, therapists can often be private people, loath to show the world too much of who they really are. Sometimes — for example, to foster appropriate boundaries and a good therapeutic frame with clients — there are very good reasons for therapists to maintain a zone of privacy. But too often, privacy becomes a way for therapists to deny their own imperfections and, by extension, their own humanness. I won't make any promises about what I will or won't share about myself in this blog, but I do hope to convey a sense that therapists are ordinary human beings, just like everyone else, and that we're all on this journey called life together.
I'm not a prolific writer, but I will post my thoughts and feelings from time to time on a variety of topics related to the world of therapy. I hope you find this blog enjoyable and educational, and if you have any comments or any questions you'd like to see addressed, please E-mail them to me (you can do this via my profile).
The name of this blog, Making Our Way, is inspired by the song Wonder by Natalie Merchant. Over the years, it has become a sort of anthem for disabled and chronically ill children, and others facing adversity in life with courage and dignity. Here's part of it:
people see me
I'm a challenge to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as you can see you can offer me
no explanation
o, I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
know this child will be able
laughed as she came to my mother
know this child will not suffer
laughed as my body she lifted
know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience and with faith
she'll make her way
The idea for this blog came in part from talking with friends, colleagues, and clients over time about therapy and therapists. Many people are fascinated by the ritual of therapy, even if they have never gone to a therapist themselves. I am asked the same questions about therapy over and over. Why would someone want to go to therapy and talk about their problems for an hour? Why would someone want to become a therapist and spend their days listening to other people? And what's up with therapists and their strange behaviors — their blank stares, their cryptic comments ("Hmmm, how do you feel about that?"), and their long silences?
The Internet has given us new ways to express our ideas to a wide audience, so I decided it would be a fun and interesting experiment to put down some of my thoughts about questions like these in a blog. It also gives me a chance to write, something I don't always have an opportunity to do these days.
One interesting thing about blogging is that it encourages self-revelation, and self-revelation is not something that therapists are generally known for. In fact, therapists can often be private people, loath to show the world too much of who they really are. Sometimes — for example, to foster appropriate boundaries and a good therapeutic frame with clients — there are very good reasons for therapists to maintain a zone of privacy. But too often, privacy becomes a way for therapists to deny their own imperfections and, by extension, their own humanness. I won't make any promises about what I will or won't share about myself in this blog, but I do hope to convey a sense that therapists are ordinary human beings, just like everyone else, and that we're all on this journey called life together.
I'm not a prolific writer, but I will post my thoughts and feelings from time to time on a variety of topics related to the world of therapy. I hope you find this blog enjoyable and educational, and if you have any comments or any questions you'd like to see addressed, please E-mail them to me (you can do this via my profile).
The name of this blog, Making Our Way, is inspired by the song Wonder by Natalie Merchant. Over the years, it has become a sort of anthem for disabled and chronically ill children, and others facing adversity in life with courage and dignity. Here's part of it:
people see me
I'm a challenge to your balance
I'm over your heads
how I confound you and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders
of god's own creation
and as far as you can see you can offer me
no explanation
o, I believe
fate smiled and destiny
laughed as she came to my cradle
know this child will be able
laughed as she came to my mother
know this child will not suffer
laughed as my body she lifted
know this child will be gifted
with love, with patience and with faith
she'll make her way
posted by Robert Holum at 8:05:00 PM
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