Wellness and Personal Growth

Therapy is not only reserved for people who struggle with mental health issues.  Clients often use therapy as a way to care for themselves and identify how to continue their path towards wellness.  It is common to function well in several areas of our life and relationships, while still wanting to improve another area of life (such as work, parenting, how we react to situations, how we care for ourselves, and more).  Dr. LaBarge believes there are three reasons well-functioning people present for counseling services:

1) Something new has happened in their life and they need to identify how to move forward with purpose

2) Something happened in the past that they have done well coping with, but for some reason this coping or care is no longer working

3) They are so busy or care so much for other people that they need to reserve time to focus on themselves.  

Personal growth sessions are collaborative between the counselor and client, as Dr. LaBarge believes the client is the expert in their own experiences and can benefit from the support and guidance of the therapist.