Room for Change

that is welcoming enough for people of all walks of life to explore and to heal. I remember sitting up late one night a few years ago as the practice began to grow, knowing we needed a better moniker for the group as it wasn’t just me anymore. We had outgrown “Counselor Amanda”. I thought about hundreds of clients and their stories, all which centered around a culmination of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors they wanted do away with. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that bogged them down, made them feel hopeless and helpless. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors they were desperate to change. It was and is my job to help them change what is no longer useful while accepting who they are. Unhealthy thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that no longer suit our clients are what we make space to change at RFC. I also know there are far too many people out there, whether it be because of who they are attracted to or love, the color of their skin, their levels of masculinity, femininity, and otherness, who are told they need to change. That their essence is wrong and that they need to change in order to fit in, to be loved, to be accepted. As you can imagine, this is far from my mission in this life as an accepting, affirming, and empowering counselor. But the word change has been used as a weapon against unwilling participants, and I want to be sensitive to that. I’m not here to blacklist the word “change” though, as it has its place. We at Room for Change help our clients work through and change whatever stands in the way of their own personal acceptance. Our own inner critics are the hardest to live with. Us counselors are here to help our clients shift from self critical to self loving, from anxious to peaceful, from lost to knowing who they are. Those are the changes we assist with. We have never and will never encourage clients to be anything but who they are, to love who they choose, and to live life as their healthiest best selves. We change the clouds for their sun to rise.