How much changes in one year later?  In child development its often said that in the first year, babies learn to focus their vision, reach out, explore, and learn about the things that are around them while developing communication and language skills, movements and physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.  Wow thats a lot!  In the first year or a business it is often said that creating a business plan, managing expenses, and surviving are key.  Well its been One year since Maggie and I launched Quandary Counseling & Consulting, LLC and Associates.  There has definitely been some learning to focus our vision, reach out and explore while developing skills, and growing our clinical minds, alongside our clients doing brave work.  

We set out to learn from our past experiences and try to do something slightly different and our own, while still borrowing all we could from those who have gone before us, invested in us and laid strong foundations.  Our privater practice would have 2 primary goals: first and foremost, the care, encouragement and development of our clients, and secondly and no less important, the care, encouragement and development of the other counselors.  

Thanks to Maggies aesthetic eye and heart, our clients have a ‘spa-like’ experience while here, are served and provided the best possible environment while waiting in our lobby, in the rooms with their counselors, walking down the hall and even in our restrooms.  Caring, welcoming, warm, inviting and restful were the ideals set.  We have heard from so many clients about their in-person experience being wonderful and a part of why they feel safe doing the work once their sessions begin.  

For our colleagues, the other counselors, we tried to design an experience for them of being on a team and not as alone as this profession can sometimes feel, while also being independently on their own.  Our counselors run their own businesses start to finish, and we help each other out, learn together, and grow as people and counselors through our interactions.  We have learned so much from them and hopefully they have from each other and us.  We desire for a community of counselors to be working out of the same space, collaborating, growing, mutually benefitting one another, having different expertise, focus and styles ultimately for the benefit of all our clients collectively.

The best possible counselors doing the best possible work in the best possible space with the greatest level of comfort and ease.  

Why?  

Because counseling is hard!  It is difficult, painful, treacherous at times, work.  Transformation of anything always is.  From the biblical images of sanctification/transformation of refining fires for dross being removed from silver and gold, to the pruning of vines so the fruit may blossom, to the muscle tearing and rebuilding images of the fitness/workout industry, to the experience of a deep tissue massage at a spa; for change to happen, there is pain, and loss on the road to joy and gain.  Because of this, we want every other aspect of our clients and counselors experience here at Quandary to be as pleasing as possible!

Maggie and I have learned a lot of other things this last year, about ourselves, each other, our family, people, our business, God and so much more.  It has not all been easy, or enjoyable, much of it has in fact been incredibly difficult and exhausting, yet I know all of it together is doing something incredible in each of us individually, as husband and wife, as father and mother, as therapists, colleagues, friends, neighbors and so on.  We are being transformed too, day by day, sometimes it feels like minute by minute, but it is happening and it has been for a year now here at Quandary!  

Thank you to all our clients, colleagues, friends and family, who have journeyed with us and are still here cheering us on, supporting, encouraging and challenging us, and who are also no doubt being transformed along the way!!!