Statement of Theoretical Orientation

People today, especially our young people, are living increasingly complex lives

surrounded by boundless technology and opportunities to compare themselves to carefully

curated and edited versions of other people and places. In my view, humans are wired for a sense

of connection. Many psychologists have stated that humans are wired to connect to other humans

as social animals, but I believe that this need for connection goes further and deeper than our

own species.

Older cultures have held at their cores a connection to the land where they hunted or

farmed; the rivers, lakes, and oceans where they gathered water and fished; the plants they used

for medicine; the sky and stars they used to predict weather and navigate; connection to songs,

stories, and free use of expressive arts; and connection to the people with whom they lived and

worked. We might look at these older cultures and call them “primitive” and outdated. I,

however, feel that if we look closely enough, we will see glimmers of what each of us today

knows that we want deep down: a feeling of being a valued part of something, a feeling of being

free to express ourselves, and feeling that we are good and capable enough to survive and

provide just the way we are at the present moment.

I feel that a core of connection that goes beyond humanity gives us these abilities and

feelings. When we feel connected, we can know value and feel valued. Through traumas and

other experiences, we may unconsciously block or sever our connections to protect ourselves

from that which harmed us When we are disconnected then there is no one or nothing that can

give us that feeling, yet we chase it endlessly and often act in wild and unhelpful ways in order to

try to fill the void of connection.. I feel it is the purpose and process of counselling to help heal

and regrow our connections.