Individual Counseling
If you’re like most people, you feel a little anxious or even uncertain about individual counseling, but you know that you want your life to be different. You keep doing the same things over and over, and it seems so hard to change your life and relationships in the ways that you want. You feel deeply alone, and you feel so confused and lost.
When I was in high school, I had a wonderful creative writing class in which I first encountered a poem entitled “Not Waving but Drowning” by British poet Stevie Smith:
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
“Not Waving but Drowning” is the most popular and well-known of Stevie Smith’s work for a good reason: The painful feelings of sadness and isolation that the poem describes are familiar to all of us. Most of us have been “much too far out” and have struggled to keep our heads above water.
Sometimes we all feel like we’re drowning. It looks to others like we’re waving, but on the inside, we’re hurting. We can empathize with the dead man, as we have often been in the icy grip of pain and loneliness ourselves. Maybe you’ve been feeling like you’ve been drowning for a while now, and you’ve been hesitant to reach out for help.
If you’re feeling discouraged, not good enough, disconnected, and struggling to swim, you don’t have to be alone. I can help you:
If you feel like you’re drowning, there is hope. Through the unique power of human understanding, feelings that have gotten the best of you can change. With time, you can live your life with more freedom, intimacy, and emotional wellbeing.
If you’re reading this, then perhaps you’re considering therapy as a possible approach to your current concerns. The next step is to sit down with me and give it try, which might mean talking about some fears or questions you may have, especially if you’re new the process of therapy. During your initial call, our virtual assistant will answer all of your questions and discuss how we might work together.
It would be a privilege for me to meet with you and begin to understand your present concerns. I serve the communities of Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Ojai, and the rest of Ventura County. Please call my virtual assistant at (805) 256-3497 or email contact@jeremymast.com to schedule your initial session.