LPC, 13 years of experience
Hello, I am Christina Rydeen. I have been a licensed professional counselor for 13 years. It took me a long time to make this a career and I used to just attract unhappy people wherever I went who needed to talk. Study and research led me to the excitement of learning that as we work on our lives--we really can break old patterns that no longer serve our self interest and we really can emerge into a newer version of who we want to be. A lot of times in life we stop growing, thinking, "I've got this," when we don't realize learning might be a process that doesn't have a stopping point. Is it possible various forms of growth may take our whole lives? Finding and achieving goals as well as the inner work of redefining what is going on in our minds and hearts is a possibility if you want to take it. Blessings and hope and a way to change our perspective might really be possible for everyone..
I am excited to learn all about you and the intake will start the process. So, what are your circumstances, your challenges, what led you to start therapy? Who are you in your career, with your family and friends, with your husband or wife, and with your children? Or are you alone? Are you lonely or are you challenged to the maxium? I have been honored in the past to share personal journeys during therapy sessions. You are the expert in your life and I am just the listener who can assist with tools I have learned and through encouraging you to gain strength with the hope that goals can be achieved, sorrow can be emerged from, and that sometimes the hardest paths may lead to the greatest strength.
Warm, encouraging, solution focused: I am about truth, kindness, and possibilites--whatever your circumstances... I am humbled to be a therapist and I try very hard to work with you to uncover your courage and your strength to live a better life; to find a place inside possibly through deep breathing and meditation that will sustain you whatever your challenges are. It is important to become aware of our thinking and how we make our choices, and that every moment there is a possibility for you to become a more positive person and that it might be possible for you to start living the life you dream of and that you deserve.
Living a life we are proud of matters. I have worked the last few years with telehealth; with adults who had depression, anxiety, self esteem issues, weight issues, addictions, clients with negative self assessments; clients who were overwhelmed and exhausted; or clients just who needed to vent and then to decide to make adjustments either in their thinking or in their lives. I have worked with personality disorders, couples counseling, with groups, and I have always thought that all of our lives matter. It is so important to realign our perspectives and to become more positive about our chances. Feeling good matters. Without therapy, it might take longer to "get it right" and it is my hope that you "get it right" for yourself.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy shows the impact of the way we think and how it impacts our daily functioning; citing you feel the way you think. It can be helpful to realize what thoughts we use to define out reality and if we want to continue to think this way. Old patterns and memories we have might need to be reprocessed. Is thinking this thought helping us or is it inhibiting our growth? There is a process of letting go of old processing and whatever no longer serves us. It takes some awareness and work but this work has shown to be truly empowering.
It is important to view our lives with compassion at the mistakes we have made. Growth is a process and mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow. Once we learn to view ourselves with compassion, then we might feel good enough to process what needs to be rectified, what needs to be changed, and what needs to be forgiven. Being compassionate and at peace with ourselves might create a life that we are proud of; that defines who we really are. Compassion focused does not really mean a passive view at ourselves but compassion should be an active view that give us courage to make new choices and to create change.
Using deep breathing exercises and meditation help us find a place inside us that resides in our hearts. Sometimes it feels like a place we have forgotten about; the way we felt when we were younger or more happy. Just like building muscles and getting fit takes time, this practice may take time but it has been known to help replace anxiety with calm, diminish depression, and help us with emotion regulation. Most of us look outward to our circumstances to make us happy instead of looking within to a place that always loves us and that sustains us if we wish to access it.