Our Clinical Values
Hi! My name is Juliya Whitley and I am the hiring manager and owner of Equalize Counseling & Consulting. Here at Equalize, we are passionate about helping clients “equalize” their emotions (THRIVE) , reduce the pressures of the past (HEAL), and gain clearer insight for the future (GROW). The type of therapy I want Equalize to be known for is skill oriented and goal directed. Ultimately, this means to me that clients should have goals in therapy that we, as professionals, are actively working on each session by teaching new skills and using interventions.
In order to better illustrate this, I like the analogy of physical therapy. In physical therapy, you usually have a goal to work on a certain muscle group, injury, etc. The goal may change or be added to as the therapy reveals more about the functionality of the patient’s body. The idea is to get the area(s) of the body to a higher level of functioning. The therapists do this by evaluating the client, initially and their progress throughout, as they teach techniques and exercises to assist the affected area(s). Once a patient hits their goal(s), they are discharged with a healthier body, a better understanding of how to not injure/weaken that body part again, and techniques to use if they have any struggles with that body part in the future. If something else happens, they may end back up with the physical therapist, but ideally they should never be back for the exact same thing.
Clients can’t expect to make much progress if they come in each week, spend the whole hour just talking about the events of the past week, and get little more than attending skills from their counselor. This may help them some with processing, but it gives them no way to change moving forward or accomplish the goals they brought into therapy. It would be like a physical therapist listening to a patient describe how/where they were injured and poking the appropriate spots to verify they understood each time the patient came in. While there are some clients that will desire to stay in counseling for life, in order to have an outlet, many others would prefer to eventually not need it anymore.
So, I am looking for mental health providers that would be excited to provide this type of therapy to clients. This does not mean counselors are required to only use certain approaches or techniques. Diversity is key in helping our clients because no two clients are alike, just like no two clinicians are the same. Being skill oriented and goal directed can be done from any variety of therapeutic models. In fact, there are so many possibilities to how this can be done on a client’s therapeutic journey at the therapist’s discretion. Essentially, I want professionals who are excited by watching and celebrating client’s healing journeys, while also supporting the “whats” and “whys” behind their work with clients.
