How I do therapy
In my therapeutic approach with clients I work to help you find the barriers that keep you from living the valuable and fulfilling life that you want to have. I believe that struggles in our mental health are the result of how we have learned to navigate the world no longer functioning for us. Relearning how we interact with the world can be challenging without proper structure and support though. Therapy can often be obscure in how it works and so I like to use analogies in my work with folks to make things more clear and pull aside the curtain of how my therapeutic philosophy works.
Imagine if you drove on the right side of the road your entire life, but then moved somewhere else where you drove on the left side of the road. A major change has happened and you need to adapt to this new way of doing things, all while other cars are flying by you! Whether we want to change how we drive or how we think about driving it can be stressful and intimidating to step outside your initial comfort zone all on your own. I believe my role is to sit in the passenger seat with you in this car of life and help you learn how to deal with the emotional stress of the change, but also help you explore what you need to better drive on the opposite side of the road.
In addition to adapting to adapting to changes in life, therapy for me is helping clients be who they want to be rather than who others expect them to be. We receive so many messages today about what’s “right” or “normal” that it can be overwhelming and we lose who we are in trying to pursue what we’re told is “correct”. I provide a space where we can explore who you are, what you need, and help structure how we pursue who you want to be. Going back to our car analogy, maybe your car works a certain way. It works a little bit differently than the vast majority of cars. Most of the time we are given perspectives based on the vast majority and are not specific to our own personal needs. Another part of my role in that passenger seat is to help you explore those personal needs and help structure your maintenance around them to the things work best for you.
Finally, the third part of my therapeutic philosophy is helping clients move forward with their life through identifying what they find valuable and fulfilling, and helping them think about how to pursue that. This is often the most subjective part of therapy to describe. To finish up the car analogy, once you figure out how to drive your car and what it needs to run properly now you get to figure out where you want to drive it to. Once again I'm more than happy and willing to be in that passenger seat and help my clients explore these goals.
I hope this was useful in learning more about what I can offer my clients as a therapist. If any of my philosophy interested you, or you have any question please send me an email at andrew@enkindlecounseling.org
About Andrew
I hold a Master’s Degree in Social Work with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I have been practicing therapy since 2017 and primarily use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I have continued to hone my skill set by educating myself on emerging knowledge, philosophy and treatments for neurodiversity and related conditions and love to make book recommendations for those looking to learn more. I practice from anti-oppressive training that seeks to examine and acknowledge how we all develop and survive within oppressive systems, and the related survival mechanisms that will produce in our daily lives and interactions.
I was born and raised in Chicago where I have high and specific opinions on tavern style pizza, public transport, and when the weather “feels like” it's lower than it is. Outside of work I am a nerd of the highest degree regularly engaging in my hobbies of tabletop roleplaying games, trading card games, tabletop wargaming, and miniature painting. My favorite class in DnD is paladin, my favorite color in Magic is Green, and I am an unrepentant and proud owner of many contrast and speed paints. I have a lovely cat named Meryl who is often seen lounging in my background during sessions, or who’s tail will poke up from below the screen as she sits on my desk.
