Hello! I'm Dr. Sheila F. Matthews

As a professional, I have studied, practiced, and experienced a plethora of individual’s,
group’s, and family’s exertions with situations in their life or environment to improve,
change, adjust, and sometimes just survive. Whatever the case, the one thing they had
in common is the desire for support, encouragement, and validation. With validation,
individuals have an opportunity and is encouraged to have their voice. Having a voice
is often an antecedent to progress.

When working one-on-one, there are three points I believe are important for a
successful outcome. These three points include rapport, trust, and caring. With
rapport, it is important the client and therapist are able to get along well with each other.
Because clients are taking a risk to share their thoughts, feelings, mistakes and failures,
trust is very important. It is also important that my clients are aware that I care, and I
am concerned about them in their own right, and that I wish to help them with concerns
they feel are important. While working one-on-one with my clients, if any one of these
are not experienced by my client, it is important that they believe they can share their
concern with me.

As a professional, I have studied, practiced, and experienced a plethora of individual’s,
group’s, and family’s exertions with situations in their life or environment to improve,
change, adjust, and sometimes just survive. Whatever the case, the one thing they had
in common is the desire for support, encouragement, and validation. With validation,
individuals have an opportunity and is encouraged to have their voice. Having a voice
is often an antecedent to progress.

When working with groups, as the therapist I take the careful role of facilitator and
interpreter. Depending on the group function, there are times when I will facilitate the
process while members of the group communicate their thoughts and feelings with each
other. At other times I may need to assist with obstacles that may make it difficult for
members to speak. I may also need to serve as an interpreter to help group members
relate effectively to one another, while paying attention to client’s feelings and reactions.