Counselling Toronto--psychotherapy and marriage counselling

A counsellor is trained to listen attentively in order to understand each client's unique situation, experience and perceptions. By so doing, and by coming at the material from the outside without the client's own preconceptions, he/she can pick up nuances and find things that the client has missed. In this setting, the client can too. For some clients it is helpful for a therapist who has a good sense of timing to point out what he/she sees. For others it works better to wait till they see it themselves. So the more open-minded the therapist is, the better the counselling works. Needless to say, if a counsellor were narrow-minded and judgemental, the experience could be damaging instead of helpful. This is one of the reasons that an organization such as the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists requires that clinical members include substantial personal therapy in their training.

Although some therapeutic methods put much more emphasis on the relationship between counsellor and client than others, it is crucial regardless of the type of psychotherapy being employed--cognitive, cognitive-behavioral therapy, (CBT) psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, client-centred therapy, expressive arts therapy, gestalt, transactional analysis, neuro-linguistic programming, EMDR, trauma treatment, counselling within a family systems framework, psycho-educational work, etc.

Counseling can help when you experience any of these:

It feels like you can't cope

You are having strange thoughts or dreams that trouble you

You have a habit problem, outbursts, irritability or another behaviour problem

You don't seem to be yourself lately

You don't feel confident about your own judgement--or you are sometimes overconfident and/or impulsive

A problem you haven't been able to solve is interfering with getting on with your life

Your problem is not getting better

You have feelings of helplessness

Your friends are worried about you

You are having a tough time with the end of a friendship or relationship

You are dealing with an abusive boss or a toxic atmosphere at work

The type of work you are doing does not seem to be right for you

You do not know how to get ahead with your career

You have lost interest in things that used to give you pleasure

You feel overwhelming sadness or anxiety.

There is a lot of conflict in your relationships

Conflict in your family is getting you down

You cannot seem to settle or find a feeling of peace

You want to understand yourself and others better

You want to become more assertive, better at negotiating

Childhood trauma is still getting in your way

You are in a role that requires you to develop your leadership skills

You lack a good support system

You have a good support system, but you need something beyond what they can do

There is something you need to talk about but cannot tell your friends or loved ones

It feels like it would feel good to talk to someone

A counselor can help you to:

Whether the problem is intrusive thoughts, inability to focus, losing touch, infidelity, unsafe sex, compulsive promiscuity, marital disharmony, lies and undue secrecy, overspending on prostitutes, cat and mouse games, or other habit problems related to sex, Beth Mares and Ingrid Dresher help people with sexual problems. They also help with sexual dysfunctions.

Ingrid and Beth also help with

coping with denial

too much emotional dependency on the significant other in a relationship; enmeshment

depression, lack of direction, anxiety disorders

adjustment disorders and difficulties

anger management, learning to feel emotions and manage emotional state

relationship issues such as fidelity and jealousy, power struggles, sexual problems

work-life balance and stress management

life planning

prioritizing and getting organized

goal-setting, implementing decisions, and reaching goals

improving communication

improving emotional awareness, empathy and EQ

staying grounded, resilient and clear-sighted

maintaining self-esteem

sex therapy and sex addiction counselling

Ingrid and Beth do distance counseling via phone or chat.