As a clinician and a person, my interactions with others are built on the foundation of core values:

We want to be well.

We want our minds and our bodies to be healthy.  We want to be well-liked and to have positive relationships.  We want to be valued and to value others.  This is true in all domains of our life: personally, professionally, physically.

It’s not uncommon for things to get in the way of wellness, but the desire to be well is always present.

We are doing our best.

Not only do I believe that everyone wants to do well, I believe that we are all doing our very best at any given moment.  That said, our best isn’t a consistent thing.  There are lots of circumstances that affect our capacity from moment to moment and there are times that our very best can feel downright disappointing to ourselves or others.

During those times, returning to this core value reminds us to be patient, gentle, and kind with ourselves and others.

What we do makes sense.

I believe there is always a way to understand, and when I encounter something that confuses me I get curious.  Our choices, behavior, relationships, and coping skills don’t randomly happen, but the way people make sense is not always obvious.  Sometimes we have to work hard to understand ourselves and others.

This means being reflective, asking questions, and keeping our minds and hearts open to different perspectives in order to gain insight and understanding.

We have what we need.

Each of us has skills, capacity, and resources in our lives that can benefit us and help move us towards our personal goals.  We may be aware of some of these assets, and unaware of others but they always exist – we wouldn’t be living, breathing people with beating hearts without them!

I believe that therapy is a useful way of understanding what we have, how it’s working for us (or not), and how our assets can be strengthened and developed.