About our process
HOW POSITIVE CHANGE HAPPENS
Therapy is first and foremost about you — and your hopes for change. It is our role to create a safe and productive context in which the changes you desire can occur.
People enter therapy for reasons as varied as individuals are unique. However, the motivation to come to therapy is usually related to three areas of life: personal issues, relationship difficulties, and the life challenges and situations that we all face at times. Often, people face struggles in all three areas at the same time.
Regardless of what external catalyst encourages someone to seek therapy, the shared entry point into the change process is pain. Pain can range from mild discomfort to intense desperation. People come to therapy hoping for a solution, usually with the same three questions:
Is change possible? Is it possible for me? Can you help me?
It is typical for people to come to their first session feeling both fear and hope. There is often uncertainty about what actually happens in therapy as well as fears about how much discomfort it may involve. These are understandable concerns, and one early priority is discussing how therapy works, and what to expect.
Therapy creates change. And human beings have an inordinate capacity to change in meaningful and lasting ways. It is, ultimately, the need for change in their experience, relationships or life situations that draws people to therapy.
“What I am looking for in working with people is not what is wrong, but what needs to change. Systems theory says that one small change in a behavior can affect an entire family system. I am looking for the smallest change that creates the most optimal outcome.” - Joan Collins Harwood, PhD, LMFT, LPC
Whether you are dealing with depression, anxiety, feelings of isolation, relationship difficulties or other painful experiences, there is hope for a positive transformation that can impact the rest of your life.
We live in a culture that says we should never need help or encounter any life experience that is too difficult to handle on our own. We are taught that we should never show hurt or pain. It is painfully common for adults, both men and women, to apologize immediately for crying.
Therapy provides a safe place for you to feel whatever you are feeling and to explore your experience as deeply as you choose. It allows you to find out who you are and what you are capable of beyond the limitations you have experienced in the past.
About Joan Harwood
My Mission
My mission is for people to know the love and freedom that come from living an authentic life. Whether you have lost a loved one, ended a relationship, or are in the depths of despair for some other reason, there exists a part of you that can transform any painful life story into a joyful one. It is a matter of experiencing yourself and your life’s journey in a new way.
Over the years, I have worked with thousands of people to help them make the changes they want to make. I am licensed to practice as both a counselor and a marriage and family therapist in the state of Texas.
Prior to becoming a therapist, I was a classically-trained singer, who entered the University of Texas on a music scholarship. I also worked as a magazine editor and was a marketing director for a large bank before I became a therapist. I have been in private practice for over 22 years.
I have a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, and a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy with a creative systemic studies emphasis from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. My doctoral dissertation is on love and cybernetics in the practice of family therapy.
On a personal note, I have several creative pursuits. I have always loved music and was a student of the piano and vocal-performance for many years. I have performed with the Houston Symphony Chorus, as well as other solo performances. Today, I also play the guitar, harmonica and mandolin for fun.
I grew up on a working cattle ranch, so I’ve had a very diverse life experience with a cowboy father and a mother who is both a musician and a fine artist.
I love to cook, especially family recipes and anything healthy. I am an amateur marathon-walker who is also an avid fan of beautiful flowers and plants, water sports, art, music, but mostly — people — and always at the top of my list, the many members of my own family and extended family of friends.
