Louise Lague, MA NCC /  The Transitions of  Midlife

Portland, OR 97201
ph: 503-539-7650

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National Certified Counselor

Specializing in Midlife Issues


 Mission: My specialty is unsticking anyone who is stuck. Sometimes we spend so long in our trenches that we cannot see other answers.

 

But alternatives are all around. An expert counselor does not tell a client what to do, but like a consultant, points out other possibilities that might work better.

 

For example, we all have individual methods and attitudes that we used to survive as children Many of those are now working against us, but because we have always held thenm, it is hard to identify them. A counselor can help with that.

 Events that typically get us stuck:

 

  • Divorce
  • Care of elderly parents
  • Adult orphanhood
  • Empty nest
  • Disillusionment or dismissal at work
  • Relationship problems
  • Loneliness
  • Lack of motivation

 

These are normal, but difficult areas of adult life. In most cases, I can have you feeling better about life in one session, and reinforce and solidify wellbeing ib subsesquent You are meant to be a self-forgiving, fulfilled, authentic, and joyous person. That is within reach. 


 

NEWS:

My office is now back at a location some of you know: The Northwest Counseling Center, on NW 21st, between Johnson and Kearney, in Portland, OR. Parking is easy to find during the day, and this is an interesting and full-service neighborhood to visit.

 DIVORCE GROUP:

 My colleague Martha Darkens and I are starting a divorce support group. Men and women both can join in. Time and place will be set according to the group's availability. Interested? Send me an email at louiselague@yahoo.com

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Thoughts for June

How to Stop Getting Worse

I’m just home from a healthcare meeting in Colorado, where Dr. Dee Edington, Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan Health Management Research, spoke about preventive medicine  -- that is, the art of  not getting sick.

"I never tell them to stop smoking or to work out more, or what to eat,” he says. “I just tell them to stop getting worse.” And adds that in so doing, they might get better.  This, I suddenly realized, is a great concept!

 On the whole, people don’t respond to getting bossed around. Especially grownups. But the beauty of this idea is that “stop getting worse” sounds like no change is required. No heavy lifting.

We all have a fear of change, so much so that we go through all sorts of acrobatics to avoid it. But change is inevitable, and easier to embrace if we fool ourselves into thinking it’s easy.

 The recommendation to “Stop getting worse” means “Don’t eat junk any more junk than you do now. Don’t exercise less than you do. Don’t smoke more than you do.” Essentially, just chill. You don’t have to go into deprivation mindset, which may just lead to rebellious splurging. Instead, if you have iffy behaviora, and we all do, just don’t crank it up.

  Continued on PSYCHOBLOG page

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright Louise Lague, MA NCC, 2007 All rights reserved.

Portland, OR 97201
ph: 503-539-7650