The Samaritan Connection - 4

Finding my Motivation
By Wendy Stivers, MA, LPC
Things Therapy Can
Help With
* Relief and treatment for emotional
distress (depression, anxiety, panic,
anger and adjustment disorders)
* Building stronger, healthy
relationships
* Preparing for Marriage - Premarital
Consultation
* Coping with a loss
* Navigating life transitions
* Managing the stress of parenting
* Addressing substance abuse
* Attaining balance in life
* Reducing stress and overcoming
anxiety
* Altering negative behaviors
* Creating a fulfi lling life
* Improving body image
* Helping with attention defi cit
disorders
* Improving communication skills
* Healing from trauma
* Exploring personal meaning, growth
and spirituality
* Understanding gender identity
* Developing positive decisionmaking
and problem solving skills
4 * The Samaritan Connection
My interest in the counseling fi eld began early, as I grew up
living with an alcoholic parent. I remember the excitement
of fi nding a bottle of alcohol under the couch, as if it was like
fi nding a hidden Easter egg, and I also remember the fear of
falling asleep listening to my parents scream at each other
from the fl oor below. I remember the thrill of being able to go
out after dark and see the neon signs glowing in the windows
of the liquor store as my parent left me alone in the car to go
buy vodka. And I remember the anxiety that would rise up
as I got off the school bus and got closer to home: What would I fi nd there? An
empty house? A parent passed out on the fl oor? Yelling and screaming?
As soon as I made friends and was able to see other family situations up close
and personal, I became aware that not all families lived like this. And I became
convinced that this was not the type of home situation I wanted for my own
children whom I expected to have someday. That conviction launched me on
a path of reading anything I could get my hands on about alcoholism and adult
children of alcoholics. My goal was to make myself as healthy as I could possibly be
so that my children could have it better than I did, and their children could have
it better than they did. And thus I'd be a part of ending a pattern of dysfunction
and addiction that has come down through many generations on both sides of my
family tree.
Some of the things I remember recognizing early on were a sense of isolation,
that no one could really understand what I was going through. Also, that the
critical inner voice that ran on repeat in my head was not often correct. And that
the huge sense of responsibility I took on frequently left me wanting to care for or
about others, often to my own detriment.
Do any of these things sound like you? Think it over. If you're connecting with
my story, you may already have a tendency to attract partners who are addicted in
some way, and who don't treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Or you may
fi nd that you're constantly allowing yourself to be put down, even as you put others
fi rst. If that's you, please give Samaritan Counseling Center a call. We have a team
of qualifi ed therapists who would love to talk with you and walk alongside you on
your own journey of healing and self-discovery.
The Samaritan Connection

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Samaritan Connection
