We have to discover and create ourselves.
If you don’t love yourself, you can’t love someone else!
Be kind to yourself as well as to others.
“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
― Victor Frankl
Life can be full of amazing wonder, cherished moments, and wonderful experiences. However, there are times when life has a way of throwing unexpected situations and obstacles in our paths, that can easily cause us to lose our sense of meaning or purpose in life, whether it is having to confront an unexpected job change, being diagnosed with an illness, losing a family member or friend, or simply being overwhelmed by obligations and responsibilities. The current Covid-19 pandemic has also forced many of us to reorganize our lives and develop a new sense of normal. When we have lost our sense of meaning, or sense of importance or greater purpose, we have to look for new and creative sources of inspiration. We have to examine ourselves, our environment, our values and virtues, and our strengths in order to discover and create a new sense who and what we are in this world.
My counseling philosophy is primarily meaning-centered. It is centered around Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. This approach is based on three basic tenets: Life has meaning under all circumstances; the motivating force of life is the will to discover meaning; and we have the freedom of will not only to seek meaning, but to embrace that meaning by living in its service. Having a sense of meaning and purpose in life as one of most important influences on quality of life. Each of us have strengths and resources within ourselves and our environment that can be utilized as sources of inspiration in the self-discovery process. Self-discovery is a process that focuses on self-awareness, understanding our freedom of choice and responsibility in relation to our environmental limitations, the importance meaningful relationships, using our creativity, experiences and attitudes in a positive manner, and developing a sense of balance between our experiences, thoughts, behaviors, and views. Meaning-centered approaches help individuals view their problems and dilemmas in the larger context of the world around them and in the process increase their understanding of the meaning of their problems and their own potential options for change. Each of us has the ability to learn how love and take care of ourselves.
In addition to supporting meaning-centered approaches, I also advocate and support wellness, strength based, and mindfulness based theoretical approaches to counseling. I am passionate about promoting diversity and multiculturalism, as well as advocating for social change and the empowerment of oppressed people no matter if that oppression is due to race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, age, or other factors. I am constantly striving to learn and incorporate new approaches and techniques into my practice, as I realize that there is never a one size fits all solution.
~Angela-Marie Sadiqua~