If you’ve ever felt like your therapist wasn’t really listening or seemed kinda bored, then you get how soul-crushing it is to have something important to you (therapy!) reduced to a mere inconvenience in someone’s work day.
The truth is, lots of health professionals are overworked and burned out (cheers…everything). Most of the time, they aren’t the ones at fault – but rather a larger problem with our industries and companies prioritising cash at the cost of the client’s experience.
We are super intentional about prioritising client experience and therapy quality at Golden Thread, and it doesn’t happen by accident.
As a counsellor, here are a few things I do to make sure that I’m helping each client make the best use of their therapy time and space:
- Fewer sessions per day, so that I can show up to every session focused, energised, and able to actually listen properly.
- A money-where-my-mouth-is approach to rest. I hold myself to the same standards I recommend for clients = wellbeing first.
- Open, two way collaborative communication. Part of the deal at Golden Thread is an agreement that you and I are on equal footing. I bring professional mental health training, evidence-based strategies, focus, and compassion. You bring insight about who you are and what you’re feeling (the important part!). I don’t assume what will and won’t work for you. Together we’ll brainstorm ideas, you’ll test strategies, and then you’ll bring rich insight about what works and what doesn’t.
I consider it a huge professional win when clients feel comfortable and clear enough in sessions to let me know that a tool just straight up sucked for them.
This means two things:
1. You feel comfortable enough in our therapeutic relationship to provide feedback and you know you won’t be judged.
2. You have insight on yourself and you value yourself enough to pass it on. YAY!
To become a Golden Thread Therapy client:
1. Book your initial session using the online booking calendar.
2. Fill out your intake and consent forms.
3. Attend your first session in our Ashgrove office or online using a secure private Zoom meeting link.
4. Congrats! You’re now a little personal science experiment — give your personalised strategies a go and report back with your findings.
Our hypothesis: more relief, less shame, and a little bit more joy. (All jokes aside — from here on out, we will work together to establish a rough plan for sessions and you’ll be welcome to come and go as you choose.)
Without engaging in a good therapy set up, you might continue to feel directionless or bound to other people’s expectations/ideas for your life. Whether it be at Golden Thread or another fantastic practice, I really encourage you to hold hope and invest in therapy for yourself.
