…Therapy was the best thing I ever did for myself.  It was an amazing feeling to know that someone would take the time to listen to me and not judge me on my thoughts and feelings.  I always felt I was unimportant and my feelings were disregarded, especially as a child. Keeping everything inside made it all seem so big and scary.  Once I started speaking things out, I began to be free of things like depression and fear.  My feelings were validated… I have gained self-esteem that I never had and self-confidence to do things I couldn’t ever imagine doing. 

I believe that everyone has hurts inside that they bury, but they don’t go away.  In therapy, you can start the process of being healed and freed from them.

L.M.
Administrator
Farmingdale, NY

I have been attending therapy sessions with Nassau Guidance for approximately 2 ½ years.  …Before coming to my therapist, I was very much against therapy and felt it was not necessary to pay for someone to listen to me ramble on about my problems. I felt friends were good for that.  But something in my life occurred that no one else could truly help me with.  I was molested as a child and due to this there were so many other self-esteem issues, anxieties, and other problems that made it hard to pick up my head sometimes…. With the help of my therapist, I have become empowered.  I am able to pick myself up and brush myself off a lot quicker than ever before.  My therapist showed me new ways of looking at my problems and how to handle them while I motivate myself to move forward.  Though I have some road ahead of me, I feel I have come a long way and I could not have done this alone or with the help of my friends.  I needed a professional and I am so happy today that I turned to therapy.

The experience I have had in therapy over the last few years has been profound… …I must admit I came into therapy with something of a misconception. [My feeling was that if I could only delineate the problem, discuss it in detail, lay out a strategy for change, everything would automatically be different].  When it wasn’t, I became frustrated.…   It was only through the patience and guidance of my therapist that I began to understand an entirely new language, that of the emotions, of the body…  Now I am learning to communicate with my own inner guidance, to understand how my body speaks to me through my feelings… In addition, I have learned that the little boy in me, the real creative self in me is still alive, willing to create.  This has been such an enormous revelation, as though I had discovered that the very essence of life still flows deeply within me. 

I feel the work has been most competent and professional…, and yet there has been a great deal more, a profound sense of caring and safety, kindness, and understanding…I would heartily recommend the care I’ve received without reservation.

Nassau Guidance and my therapist have enabled me to grow in so many ways. I feel like I am now finally living my life in the present and not so much in the past. Being in therapy has enabled me to feel like a weight has been lifted and that I can live a life free of excess baggage and issues. It has helped me to become a better social worker, woman, wife, mother, and family member. I believe this has occurred not only because I was ready but because my therapist provides me with a safe, loving, and realistic environment in which I can work out many of life's difficulties, including my own childhood traumas and the death of my first child at birth. I don't know where I would be without Nassau Guidance today.

Nassau Guidance and Counseling Center is providing a service to our community and its residents that is invaluable.  I am fortunate to have been referred to an excellent therapist who continues to work with me.  I believe that there is no substitute for having an unbiased and trustworthy ear of a specialist who is committed to you as an individual and to working with you to help you feel better.  My experience has been both enlightening and satisfying.