What is Narrative Therapy?

Problems can have a way of taking over a person’s life. A narrative therapist helps rediscover and highlight forgotten parts of people’s lives and relationships that may have been pushed aside or obscured due to The Problem’s Presence. These can be brought to bear in addressing these problems. A narrative therapist does this without suggesting that those who are challenged in life are problems themselves.

Who would be a good fit for you to work with?

Anyone who resonates with my approach and its values, people who may struggle to find a good fit with other counselors, or people who are new to therapy and looking for a comfortable, personal and respectful relationship.

These days I mostly work with adults, but I enjoy working with people of all ages whether they want to come alone or with a friend or family members. (For children interested in counseling, family engagement is the preferred approach).

How long will it take for things to get better?

It’s difficult to answer that as all clients have different needs and goals, but I tenaciously engage with hope from the first day we meet. If you aren’t sensing any development or relief by the third session, we can talk about if I’m a good fit for you.

Some people only feel the need to come to a handful of sessions but many people need at least 6-12 sessions in order to make significant changes. Sessions can be weekly, biweekly, monthly… whatever makes therapeutic and financial sense to you.

What does “gossamer threads” mean?

A gossamer thread is a delicate strand of spider’s silk. Gossamer threads can be almost invisible to the eye, but they are stronger than steel.

Likewise, when we are in the midst of problems, we often feel overwhelmed; it’s difficult to detect hope or possible ways forward— hence the expression “hanging by a thread!” However, even the thinnest strands of hope can support us and can be strengthened and added to until we feel secure again. This process of hope-growing is at the heart of Gossamer Threads Counseling.

A Noiseless Patient Spider

by Walt Whitman

A noiseless patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them,

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly measuring, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling, O my soul, catch somewhere.