"I can't remember the last time I felt this good! I wake up every morning with renewed optimism and am confident enough in myself and my abilities to face life's challenges with a sense of opportunity and gratitude. Thank you for all your help and everything you do!"

I recently received this appreciation from a client who completed therapy. While her situation was unique, the sentiments she expressed at the end of her treatment were not.

It may seem difficult to believe right now, but you can have the same sense of optimism and confidence in your abilities as the woman mentioned above. You can recognize and appreciate your unique resources and gifts, and learn to turn any challenge into an opportunity for growth and fulfillment.

This is the power of effective therapy. And seeing the dramatic, positive, lasting changes my clients create in their lives is the reason I love doing the work I do!

Therapy Can Help... But Only When You Decide You're Ready!

It's easy to think we have all the answers when we're young. But as we get older we often find that our lives and our relationships with friends, colleagues, family members, and partners no longer work the way they once did. They may still be there, but they no longer provide us the joy or fulfillment we once took for granted.

Even when we try to do things differently, it often seems the same loop kicks in and begins repeating over and over. Feelings of helplessness about how to resolve the problems we face, and feelings of responsibility or guilt about being the cause of our issues, only seem to make matters worse.

If any of this sounds familiar... if you feel like you missed your copy of the handbook How to Live a Rewarding Life... you're not alone. But help is available!

Similar to hiring an M.D. to treat and heal physical pain, psychotherapists help treat and heal the emotional pain that interferes with people's abilities to function or experience fulfillment in their personal and professional lives.

Unfortunately, while most people have little inhibition about seeking the professional help of a doctor when they encounter medical difficulties, our culture doesn't value emotional and behavioral health as highly and many people don't consider seeking professional help when they encounter emotional pain that interferes with their ability to live a happy, healthy, and rewarding life.

Yet thousands upon thousands of Americans seek out psychotherapy and counseling services every day, and with good reason... Therapy can be an extremely positive, life-changing process, which remains unparalleled in its ability to transform people's lives.

Psychotherapy provides a confidential and supportive environment in which to discuss and resolve issues involving:

• Communication and relationship issues with partners, colleagues, family members, and friends,
• Alcohol and chemical dependency,
• Anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and work-related stress,
• Traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
• Anger management, and
• Professional enrichment, performance enhancement, and achieving work-life balance,

to name just a few.

Antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, exercise, meditation, and taking a vacation can all be helpful. However, they rarely, if ever, resolve the underlying problems people experience in forming intimate relationships or in avoiding destructive behavior patterns.

Whereas the counseling services I provide have helped numerous individuals realize and benefit from the dynamic nature of existence... Problems can be changed into solutions. Challenges can be sources of opportunity, learning, and growth.

If you're looking for:

• Increased confidence, optimism, and self-esteem,
• The ability to establish healthy boundaries and meet your needs without walking over others',
• Ways to remain calm, centered, and objective in the face of others' unhealthy behaviors, and
• Greater understanding of, and control over, your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions,

Professional psychotherapy can help!

I have chosen the professional and personal life path of a psychotherapist after years of self-examination. I love the work I do, and helping people transform themselves, their relationships, and their lives gives me an incredible feeling of accomplishment and joy.

Therapy not only provides a respite from our fast-paced world, but can help you uncover the unconscious programs and beliefs that determine the choices you make and run your life. The work is rarely, if ever, easy, but professional therapy can help you learn how to help yourself... The rewards of psychotherapy are truly limitless!

To learn more about how individual psychotherapy can help you, please don't hesitate to contact me with your questions or to schedule a free consultation. I may be reached by phone at 408-257-2515, or by e-mail at sara@sarawesttherapy.com. I look forward to meeting you, but the person you're really going to meet is yourself!