Radical Counseling

What is Radical Counseling?

*Radical: rad·i·cal | \ ˈra-di-kəl: favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions

Counter-Culture. Rebellious. Empowered.

For me* Radical Counseling is about acknowledging that we do not grow up in a world free from influence and agendas and that social justice ills effect us all. We look critically at what society is offering- like the diet industry, limited definitions of success, patriarchy, gender roles, developmental expectations ( when are you going to get married & have kids already!), and we consider whether those things add value to our lives or not. We bring consciousness to the harmful effects this can have on our psychological and spiritual wellbeing so that we can choose what to let into our lives, and what to discard.

This leads to a life that works for us, instead of a life that works for others. Radical Counseling is a soothing balm and an empowered way to engage with yourself. My clients want to believe in their own intrinsic value, their highest potential and their ability to foster a more empathetic, compassionate and hopeful life.

One of the most radical things about my brand of counseling is the belief that you came into this world with intrinsic value as your birthright.

What if everyone knew and felt their own worth? Our world would be transformed. Once we arrive on the planet, we are immediately socialized into the dominant culture; in western society this means the idea that we have to earn our worth, and the belief that is something is inherently wrong with us (original sin) that we need to fix, hide, or shame away. Bottom line - you are not good enough so you need to prove your value as a human being. While there is truth to building worth that is valuable to society (most of us need a job), we have enormous value simply by being a human being on this planet. Radical Counseling asks you to hold and consider this idea of intrinsic worth. 

We also live in REALITY and acknowledge that we can’t have or be everything we dream of. There are real and serious obstacles, obligations and oppression in people’s lives. We don’t ignore these things, or try to manifest them away. We engage with them from an interior position. We begin to leave the outer world a little bit and tune into our inner world. We listen to what our Soul/Higher Self is telling us and we make shifts in the outer world. We tune into our own guidance & sensitivity system- instead of only referencing the outer world- and use this wisdom to create the life that supports our inner mission:

To celebrate and use our unique HSP superpowers to help alleviate suffering, add to the goodness of humanity and pursue the meaning and purpose that fills our lives with joy.

*Radical Counseling was a term used in the ‘60s/‘70s to describe a theory/treatment that believed in and acknowledged the psychological effects of social ills such as inequality and racism and encouraged helping the self by working to change society. This was radical because mental health or psychological “problems” focused on the individual as the cause of all the person’s difficulties. While this was a step in the right direction, it also puts the responsibility to ‘change society’ on the people who are already oppressed by it.