For anyone who is interested in feng shui, they already know that it means “wind water” in Chinese. I live in a place with an abundance of both wind and water.
I picked this name for my business for several reasons:
First, I picked this name several years ago with the intention of starting as a feng shui blog and doing some consulting work while I continued working full time as a therapist at an agency.
Second, I live on the east coast and love the coastal imagery associated with the idea.
Third, now that I am in private practice, I still want to blend the skills I have as a therapist with the skills of the feng shui consultant. The way I was trained in the feng shui assessment process is related to a psychological theory from Abraham Maslow called the “Hierarchy of Needs” – both are a “holon” which looks like this:
How feng shui and therapy are alike
I like to think of the treatment plan for each client as a pyramid where you decide what the goal is and what your version of “self-actualization” is – this can also be thought of as your “life worth living” which is a concept I learned through DBT.
If you’re trying to solve a problem, you need to know what it is first. Defining a problem helps you figure out the goal, and makes it a lot more likely that you will reach that goal! The long term goal needs to be broken down into smaller parts so that you can systematically work towards that.
When you are helping someone change their living space, this is a lot about how the space needs to function, but it is also about the ‘vibe’ of the space, which would be called ‘chi’ traditionally in feng shui. How does it flow? How does it feel? How does it look? What emotions do you have and what sensations do you experience when you walk in?
Most people have not thought of their space that way before, and when they come to therapy, they have usually not thought of their life like that either.
There are a lot of different reasons someone comes to therapy, but one of the ways it is similar to a feng shui consultation is that you are helping the person define their goals so they are more likely to meet them. It is about perspective, and the therapist will have an entirely different perspective on the client’s life than they will, which can help them ask clarifying questions.
So what is your goal?
Email me if you are interested in working together!