Grief Counseling Grief * Loss * Life Transitions
Compassionate * Warm * Non-Judgmental
It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty
Jeannette Walls
Welcome to My Practice
The Joshua tree grows and even thrives in fiercely harsh conditions; It's beauty a result of both its struggles and its strengths. Like the Joshua tree, grief is often experienced against the backdrop of a fiercely harsh landscape. A landscape that can be difficult to navigate.
Numbing pain comes at the great price of numbing joy. A reality this fierce can be difficult to understand and accept. Yet, strangely, and beautifully, it is possible to learn how to integrate the two; pain and joy. The integration of pain and joy makes "participating joyfully in the sorrows of the world", as Joseph Campbell asserted, a true possibility. When choosing to open oneself to the pain of grief, the heart too, is opened.
Becoming the artist of your own life is a great responsibility with the potential to yield great rewards. Accepting this responsibility
paves the way to a life that no longer feels empty and devoid of meaning. Learning to listen to the “inner voice” makes it easier to discern the authentic from the inauthentic, and to eventually let go of beliefs and behaviors that hinder emotional or spiritual growth.
It is my privilege to provide a safe, confidential space where difficult feelings can be explored, experienced, and processed. I provide my clients with non-judgmental presence and guidance. I engage, support and sometimes challenge my clients to mine their inner resources, build resiliency and create meaning and purpose in their lives.
It is an honor to bear witness to the embodiment and pain of truth and change.
My Treatment approach
My treatment approach is warm and collaborative and is best described as "eclectic". I meet my clients where they are at, and endeavor to create a strong therapeutic alliance (trust, safety) as a working foundation. From a place of trust and safety, I work with my clients utilizing the approach and tools that best serve their needs, and adjust when necessary. Many research studies have shown that the most important factor in "satisfactory outcome" in therapy is the relationship the client has with the therapist.
"It is the relationship that heals" ~ Irvin Yalom, Psychiatrist and Existential Therapist
My counseling practice welcomes individuals of all races, religions, countries of origin, sexual orientation, genders and abilities.
Bio
A Little about me
Right on schedule, at mid-life, I found myself "...in the middle of a dark wood and lost...", to paraphrase Dante Alighieri's oft quoted line from Inferno, Canto I. Finding my way out of the dark wood required commitment to my own psychological growth, beginning with grief counseling. Ultimately, I transitioned from a career in finance to a career in Professional Counseling. Since this midlife transition, I have worked in private practice, community mental health, and crisis intervention on suicide, crisis and veterans hotlines. Additionally, I have a combined 12 years experience volunteering and working in the hospice industry where I was privileged to work directly with patients and their families. I provided bereavement support and spiritual counseling to both patients and families. In addition to working with individuals grieving the death of a person, I have an interest in working with individuals who are grieving other losses, including the loss of a pet, the many losses associated with divorce, the loss of health, which may include a life changing illness-chronic or terminal, the loss of a job, the loss of a dream, and other losses that are frequently not recognized as such, including the often painfully slow loss of a person to the ravages of dementia and addictions (to name just a few). I also have an interest in working with caregivers, both family and professional who may be experiencing compassion fatigue and/or burn-out, working with parents of addicted children (of any age), and individuals who at any time in their lives, find themselves "...lost in the middle of a dark wood..." feeling empty, and searching for meaning.
Education
Lindenwood University
Master of Arts
Professional Counseling
CG Jung Institute- Chicago
Certificate of Completion
Clinical Training Program
Analytical Psychotherapy
Portland Institute of Loss & Transition
Current Student
Pursuing certification in Complicated Grief Therapy
Photo Gallery
Expressive Art- Collage
Grief
Joshua Tree Counseling STL, LLC and Lisa Dierdorf, MA, LPC has been granted permission to share images in the Photo Gallery that are not otherwise owned by Lisa Dierdorf, MA, LPC
Testimonials
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