Therapy and counseling is a significant investment. This is the case financially whether you are paying out of pocket, taking care of your responsibility when using insurance or even just attending counseling through a provided benefit (like EAP). There are also significant personal investments as you look at areas of your life that you may have avoided for years and as you deal with things that are less than pleasant. When making a significant investment, it makes sense to do what you can to make sure that the outcomes are what you desire.This journal is the perfect complement to the normal journey that people take when seeking wholeness and peace in their life and/or relationships. It contains three critical components. The first is a chance to reflect on why the journey is being embarked on, including the setting of goals. Following this, there are places to keep track of what is being done in the sessions with the therapist or counselor as well as what occurs between sessions. This helps the person to not forget about important parts of the process as well as to bring important information to the sessions. The third and final component is one of evaluating the journey. This evaluation is done by regularly looking at how things are going as well as a more structured look at what has happened after several sessions and then at the end of the journal. For people seeing a therapist or counselor on a weekly basis, this journal should last about six months. It is a convenient size to be able to be carried to and between sessions. The design of the flow was created by a veteran therapist based on what he has seen is helpful for clients to keep track of while on their journeys. Compared to the other investment in the journey, this resource comes at a small price to enhance the effectiveness of that process and improve the possibility of realizing the shalom you desire.
About the Author: Of course, in the truest sense of the word, you and those part of your journey are the author of this journal. However, the framework has been created and produced for you by the one listed as the author, Christopher L. Smith. Christopher has been involved in a diverse range of areas in his training and experience. His approach through life is not to treat these as distinct dimensions, but rather to see the connections across various dimensions. This book blends together his training in pastoral counseling that began at Yale Divinity School with the organizational structures learned studying operations research. His own work with clients, at the time of preparing this resource, was through Seeking Shalom (www.SeekingShalom.org), a teaching practice in New York and Indiana of which he is the founder and clinical director, where clinicians intentionally incorporate spirituality into the therapeutic process. His professional life has also included service as the chair of the Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network and as the president of the American College of Counselors, as well as regional and local leadership roles. He is licensed as a marriage and family therapist, mental health counselor and clinical addictions counselor. His therapeutic work includes working with individuals, couples, families and groups around a variety of clinical issues. In addition to this resource, Christopher has authored a number of other resources and books. If you are interested in learning more about his writings, please look him up at http: //AnAuthor.com/Christopher.