David and Ann Rees do not do mental health treatment, counseling nor mental health diagnosis. We ALWAYS refer to appropriate professionals.

As of June 2008 we are no longer counselors.

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Please see below for Practicalities  (services offered):

Existential Phenomenology allows for the client to be self-directed.  The purpose is to present new ways of looking at old and present issues, whilst at the same time offering a variety of viewpoints and insights that facilitate self awareness and intentionality.

Existentialists, as a group, have not identified themselves with a distinct procedure, rather the movement has provided a growing pool of concepts and perspectives which have been effective in helping clients  to recognize and fulfill their highest potential. In this process encounter has been noted as playing an important role. This encounter may be brief or enduring, may take place within a therapeutic relationship as well as outside of it. The result: a dramatic transformation of personality in which the facilitator operates with the client as a catalytic influence rather than as a model with whom the patient identifies or on whom transference is established . 

An existential approach is appropriate with clients who confront some boundary situation (i.e.., a confrontation with death, the facing of some irreversible decision, a sudden thrust into isolation, the move from childhood to adolescence). The desire to work with existential transition will depend on the attitudes and perceptivity of the facilitator as well as the clients willingness to deal on the level of the "givens" of existence. 

But there does not have to be a crisis for existential movement to take place.  It is enough that we are born ..... we live ...... and then we face the unknowing of Death to provoke enquiry into the manner of our existence! 

We are also Lacanian.  This means that we look at the language as well as the issues.  The words that we use often mirror the real meaning in ways that are more enlightening than any theory.  The individual continues to translate his/her lived experience into a language-based process. 

This language is what often separates us from what is the real underlying meaning of our existence, whilst (at the same time) revealing a felt presence, shared by facilitator and client - some unspoken, shared sense of reality, which lies just beyond verbalization. 

In our discussion of real self or experience we are able to admit  Lacan's view  that suggests that the self is not "...a singular, coherent, and bounded entity..." but is seen as "...a loose net of contextual, contradictory, and shifting identifications..." enveloping the absence of a discreet core (Loewenstein, 1994)

This understand of self, as experienced in the world, facilitates true actualization ----- the facilitation of possibility into probability, and the vision into the real.  True actualization becomes possible.

-- And we a realists!  We live in a world where every decision matters .... a world of reciprocal determinism.  It is the hope that each choice that we make in our life makes the big decisions both self evident and workable. That we exercise that right and obligation to choose in a manner that speaks to community rather than selfish individualism.  That we remain true to ourselves - in validation rather than affirmation of our self discovery.  

Modalities are dependent on what is necessary to facilitate what the client feels is wanted to get the work done.  Implicit in the notion of "approach" is the active participation of the client with facilitator in the work, together, within the healing relationship, in contrast to the expert who attempts to remain objective and outside the relationship, often imposing external explanations and answers. 

This is another of those existential dilemmas -- that we seek the security of meaning and certainty even where it does not exist. The phenomenological approach further stresses awareness of the client as he or she is rather than explaining behavior exclusively in terms of external labels whether medical, psychological or social. This is a recognition of the "infinity" of the human person.

It is this relationship and dialogue that facilitates the work.

What do we do then ?

Despite the grandiosity of all this philosophy, the work is fairly straightforward. Certainly there should be no mystique and anything is open to questioning. Basically, our exploration will be based on talking together through whatever means of communication - but there are other techniques we can draw on if they are useful to you. We have covered formal reviews, disclosure and setting of parameters or possibilities etc. elsewhere, but we should stress the importance of your continually evaluating what is happening for you in this work. Although we are dealing with life issues, it is not the aim to make this relationship a life-long practice. Indeed, only in exceptional circumstances would we expect to continue longer than 12 months in regular sessions. Of course, this does not preclude clients from returning in the future if they feel the need to do so.

Practicalities 

There will be an initial, normally no-fee,  introduction before sessions begin.  You will be encouraged to ask questions on anything and everything that you feel is pertinent to your process.  The emphasis is upon us to make sure that we fully disclose.  After some agreement is reached on what is going to work for you, 

Payment options will be discussed during the introduction.

Remember ......... If you are feeling like you want to harm yourself or others, please contact a mental health  or other health care professional, or visit an emergency room or crisis center  IMMEDIATELY.

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