“ Spring is Nature’s way of saying:  Let’s Party!” (Robin Williams)


   It’s the first full week of spring and the crocuses in our back yard are ‘pushing through’.  Granted, the daffodils got a head start and came through the ground a month ago, at the same time as the first robins touched down on the front lawn.  But now the new season is official, and  I can hopefully store away the snow shovel without looking over my shoulder or up in the sky!

   Spring reminds me of three important ingredients to effective counselling and therapy: 

Movement . . . Change . . . Growth

1. Growth:

                   “ I believe in process.  I believe in 4 seasons.

                     I believe that winter’s tough, but spring is coming.

                     I believe that there’s a growing season.  And I think

                     that you realize that in life, you grow.  You get better.”

                                                                 -Steve Sutherland

   No season like spring ‘hits’ all of our senses with the ‘process’ of growing - bulbs emerging from the soil, new buds on the trees, and fields being cultivated and planted. Counselling and therapy is a process that builds and moves in stages, inviting us to grow, learn about ourselves, and ‘make’ ourselves better. It’s an experience that creates and promotes learning and growth.

2. Movement:

                   “  In the winter, I plot and plan.  In spring, I move.”

                                                                  -Henry Rollins

   Winter brings dormancy to the natural world. Spring instills  movement - grass being raked and cut for the first time, backyard ponds and pools being readied for a new season, and deck furniture brought out of storage. So it is with counselling and therapy- movement is crucial. Homework exercises make counselling sessions relevant and practical. Activity and action is essential to all healthy therapeutic outcomes.

3. Change:

                   “ In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside 24 hours!”

                                                                                                            - Mark Twain

   Spring is the season of change. It’s easy to miss if we’re not observant or attentive. Session by session, my work and role as a therapist is to help facilitate the change clients want to make in their lives and to measure these changes, be they an improved relationship, an alleviated mood disorder, or a more fulfilling purpose in life.

So ask yourself: 

  1. How are you growing?
  2. Are you moving?
  3. What changes can you make to improve yourself and your life?

Happy Spring!