“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious ― Ruth Reichl

 

I sit down to write my last client note of the day and click away about the client’s presenting concerns. Smiling at the great progress she has made, I conclude with final comments and an action plan and then click save and submit where my therapy notes will be forever stored in a HIPAA-compliant digital safe. I slurp down my last sip of coffee–cold from the morning. Just a few more things to do then I can head home. I put away my files and lock the file cabinet. I pack up my bag and turn off the lights. I am the last to leave the office so I turn off the Keurig and store the teas and sweeteners. I look around at the empty suite. It is 8:30 p.m. I wonder if my colleagues were in today? I have seen clients back–to-back today with little time to socialize. I lock up the suite and head home.

I have found that while private practice affords many wonderful professional and personal benefits, it can be a very isolating experience. I see 20 to 25 clients a week, and I rarely schedule enough break time to visit with the other clinicians who practice in the suite. We each have our own schedule and do not rely on each other for our practices. Therefore, with the exception of my quarterly peer supervision breakfasts, weeks can go by without actually interacting with another therapist. This, I admit is not a good standard of practice, which becomes incredibly apparent when I leap toward my annual conferences with fervor. Conferences provide me with not only clinical, academic and business development, but professional community.

Professional community

As counselors we are held to a code of ethics that does not allow us to discuss the circumstances of our work day with others. Many years ago I was doing work with a prominent actress. While I would have never disclosed the circumstances of her therapy, I longed to tell my husband about meeting with her. Or the ex-girlfriend of a well-known musician. We work with celebrities, politicians and pillars of the community, in addition to marginalized individuals. The pain and suffering we hold for our clients is (at times) palpable. However, with the exception of supervision (and our personal journals which require de-identification), we don’t have a forum to process our work.

Community is essential. It is a place where others understand the magnitude of the work that we do and the weight it carries in our daily lives. It energizes, inspires and fortifies — allowing us to return to our work rejuvenated and renewed. Where do you find professional community? Do you participate in local counseling-affiliated organizations or make use of the extensive national opportunities that include the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and the American Counseling Association (ACA)?

Over the many years of my practice, I have affiliated with both local and national groups. However, I longed to find a forum that appreciates my research in nature therapy and my clinical interest in superhero narratives. I wanted to dialogue with others around the role of expressive arts and energy psychology in clinical practice. I wanted to collaborate with creative and innovative practitioners. I found my community in the Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC), a division of the American Counseling Association (ACA).

I presented at ACC’s 2018 annual conference in beautiful Clearwater, Florida, where I was joined by dozens of others who genuinely uphold a creative lens to clinical practice. In addition to my nature-informed workshop and superhero presentation, topics included movement, art, expressive and animal-assisted therapies. Additionally, energy psychology was explored as a clinical modality. As I attached my Wonder Woman headpiece and armbands in preparation for my presentation I walked down the hallway of the conference and passed Snow White preparing for her session, I knew I had found my people.

 

Q+A

Thelma Duffey, former ACA president and the founder of both the ACC and its accompanying Journal for Creativity in Counseling, participated in my nature therapy discussion and afterward allowed me to interview her about the conception and vision of ACC.

Cheryl:   What inspired you to found ACC?

Thelma: There were several factors that inspired my interest in creativity, and my hope to establish a division within ACA focusing on creativity in counseling. For one, I learned early on that as connected as we can be with our clients, and in spite of our sharing a trusting relationship, there are times in counseling when talk just isn’t enough. Most of us can identify with feeling stuck in a situation, thought, or feeling, and our clients are no different.  The good news is that people carry all sorts of resources within them, and there are all sorts of resources around us, which can serve as creative, innovative supports. When we tap into our clients’ creativity, and into our own, and share that creativity within a growth-fostering therapeutic relationship, we can create opportunities for change. This was particularly evident when I chaired a series of creativity conferences in the 1990-2000s in central Texas. The energy around them was incredible. These conferences became a place where practitioners, students, and counselor educators would come year after year with so much enthusiasm and shared energy.  It was that response, and my own experiences with clients, that generated the passion to establish ACC as a “home” for counselors with this interest.

 

Cheryl:  Over the past 14 years, what changes have you observed in ACC?

Thelma: One of the more exciting things I’ve seen over time is ACC’s growth into an international community of counselors who share a like-minded passion; counselors who are out there doing great things and making a difference. I’ve seen ACC evolve from a grass-roots effort into a well-established organization represented by members living across the country and throughout the world. That is amazing! I just returned from Clearwater, Florida where the ACC conference was held, and it was terrific being there with such great colleagues sharing such incredible ideas and interests.

 

Cheryl: What are your hopes/vision for ACC?

Thelma: My hope for ACC is that it will continue to thrive and that the membership will feel the comfort of “home” that we hoped it would. My vision for ACC is that as people connect with one another, they will discover new ways to support clients and communities, using creativity, connection, and the kind of compassion that can inspire change and promote healing.

 

Cheryl: What would you like counselors to know about ACC?

Thelma: ACC is a home base for students and counselors interested in exploring creative, diverse and relational counseling approaches. It was founded on the principles of relational-cultural theory and focuses on the interdependence of relationship and creativity. Creativity in Counseling as a new counseling approach has been included in a theories textbook, and it is exciting to see the many ways in which our creative thought processes, interventions, research, and resourcefulness can promote change. I feel so fortunate to be part of ACC!

 

 

Finding a community

I plan on attending and speaking at this year’s Association in Creativity’s annual conference, which will take place September 6-7 in Clearwater, Florida. I am ecstatic to have found a forum of like-minded clinicians who I can both share with and learn from in a professional forum.

The American Counseling Association has 18 divisions, four national regions, and 56 chartered branches in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Take the time to seek out a community that will ignite you and your clinical practice. It will not only inspire you– it will also benefit your clients.

 

 

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Cheryl Fisher is a licensed clinical professional counselor in private practice in Annapolis, Maryland. She is director and assistant professor for Alliant International University California School of Professional Psychology’s online MA in Clinical Counseling.  Her research interests include examining sexuality and spirituality in young women with advanced breast cancer; nature-informed therapy; and geek therapy. She may be contacted at cyfisherphd@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.