What Makes Portland Lifestyle Counseling Different?

Article by M. Joy Young, LCSW, ACSW Portland Oregon
(503) 309-1163

There are lots of counselors to choose from. Many offering the same counseling and coaching services more or less. Selecting a counselor who is skilled and professional is important but you also want to select a counselor that is right for you:

• Someone you feel comfortable with
• Someone you feel can understand your unique problem
• and someone who shares a similar world view.

Remember: it is the counseling relationship that is one of the most curative factors in counseling or therapy.

But what makes the counseling services with Portland Lifestyle counseling different and why I might be a good fit for you?

I suggest you consider these questions:

• Do you feel the world is changing so fast that you just can’t keep up sometimes?
• Have you wondered about how the larger social environment and culture may have contributed to your current issues?
• Do you feel like there is more to your story than “body chemistry”, “brain chemistry”, “heredity” or “medication”?
• Tired of people labeling you as “depressed“, “negative” or “a trouble maker” when you talk too much about your concerns about our world, culture, “the system”, your life, or the past?
• Do you feel like you don’t fit in sometimes and wonder if the direction our culture is taking has any purpose or meaning?

Many people are deeply troubled by the rapid pace of modern life and the complex demands placed on us just to keep up. At Portland Lifestyle Counseling:

• issues of social injustice, discrimination, social accountability, and environmental concerns are taken seriously, considered relevant, and are welcomed.

When the deep tragedies of 911 and Hurricane Katrina happened it become okay during counseling sessions and in other situations to talk more openly about broader social issues such as urban isolation, lack of community, economic fears, global and cultural issues, and social injustices. But shortly afterwards it was back to business as usual.

It is believed that societal issues such as a depressed economy, environmental concerns, and few job opportunities are just as important to emotional and mental health as our brain and body chemistry. What is going on outside in your community and the larger society is just as important as what is going on inside your mind and heart.

But this inclusion of social and environmental injustice is one way Portland Lifestyle Counseling services are distinctive. Want to know more? Please read my free article called Discovering Your Truth: Inner Knowing or contact joy at (503) 309-1163 .. FREE 30 minute consultation.