Almond Tree Counseling Services

How does counseling with Almond Tree Counseling Services work?

Part 4

Fourth Step (and maybe many others): The Client-Therapist Relationship at Almond Tree Counseling Services

We are convinced that Almond Tree Counseling Services will provide you with a different, a better counseling experience!

This is why:

We care! We care about others, because we know and believe that someone cares for us as well. It is not by accident, that we called our venture according to a very old symbol of hope: the Almond Tree. We are rooted and grounded in the judaeo-christian tradition and we take the highest of its commandments to heart day by day: love your neighbor as yourself. We can easily do that, because we know our own lives in the hand of the source of all love and all life.

Our own high standards

We are warm, approachable, compassionate and genuine, we advocate for you whenever necessary – and we take time to listen. We are able to truly listen to you, we try to see things from your perspective – but we see them from the perspective of our long standing experience and our extensive study of the human psyche as well. We know that we cannot change neither your life nor your present situation – this is finally your own work. However, our experience often lets us see perspectives and horizons, where you may not see them, ways to move forward, where you may see roadblocks. We will take the time to understand your story, where you come from, where you have been, what had worked for you in the past – and what efforts were fruitless – and how the whole of your past impacts your present. Your life-story is important, because it made you, what you are today, it affects the way you are thinking and reasoning and therefore impacts the choices you have to make today.

Our efforts will be focused on your possibilities, far more than on your limitations – we will focus on ways for understanding and healing, for insight and learning, for change and in the end for personal growth.

At Almond Tree Counseling Services You will be the center of attention.

When we have an understanding about a good and reasonable working relationship – how will that play out in the future?

After the initial assessment we will hopefully have a good understanding of your present situation and in what directions we may find solutions to achieve the goals and objectives we determined together. We would like you to understand yourself a little better – and with those insights we can focus on the areas of interest and importance for you. We do not need to invent the wheel anew every time we meet. We can draw from sources and resources for learning and understanding that apply widely – and we encourage our clients to learn as much as possible about the areas of life we will be working on. We will provide you with material for your own study and will support your learning process to the best of our means. Our collection of Resources on our website will grow over time and you should take advantage of these resources. We may even recommend additional material to you (essays, articles, books, documentations, etc.) to support you in your learning progress.

Therapy and treatment planning

Every client, however, is different, every individual has different goals and objectives in different situations, different needs or limitations: our working relationship needs to “make sense” - to you as well as to us. Some clients need visits every week or every other week, some take a session monthly – our working relationship can be lasting just a couple of weeks – or it may last a couple of months or even a year or longer – all depends on your needs. In long-term working relationships we will take the time – from time to time – to assess the progress you have made, to adjust or readjust your goals and objectives – maybe we will experience a shift in priorities over time.