GETME Experiential Therapy

09/02/2025

𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗠𝗘'𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁!
Adults playing together while confronting serious issues.

Tuesdays, 5:30pm Resumes September 9th Balancing Acts is an action group of approximately 6-8 people who meet weekly to help one another to explore and resolve their dilemmas, challenges and suffer…

09/02/2025

Experiential Therapy is a development of Humanistic Therapy. Here are some of things you might expect from this kind of work: The Relationship As befits a humanistic approach, the first principles of Experiential Therapy have to do with honoring the relationship between the person seeking help and the helper: 1) The therapist is clear and transparent, honest and genuine. The person will generally know a lot about the therapists’ responses and feelings, and needn’t worry that anything is being hidden....

Some things you might expect from working with an experiential therapist.

08/27/2025

Humanistic counseling is a response that grows from a need. Non-Humanistic Attitudes Historically, humanistic counseling was considered part of the "third wave" of psychology, after behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The humanists were concerned that these older approaches were less helpful than they could be because they were: Deterministic & Pessimistic - Freudians believed that people were basically stuck with themselves as they are, with very limited scope for actual change....

Humanistic counseling is a response that grows from a need. Non-Humanistic Attitudes Historically, humanistic counseling was considered part of the “third wave” of psychology, after beh…

08/24/2025

Here in Maine this past week, during late-mid-August, we had a few days that were distinctly autumnal : A chilly breeze, a sense of early darkness, brown leaves appearing from seemingly out of nowhere on the sidewalks and in the crevices....

Here in Maine this past week, during late-mid-August, we had a few days that were distinctly autumnal : A chilly breeze, a sense of early darkness, brown leaves appearing from seemingly out of nowh…

08/21/2025

𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺

With the internet sneaking off with our attention, while AI devours our culture, as civil liberties are under assault, and the gap between the rich and poor grows, and governments aggress against their neighbors and their own people -- standing up for humanistic values is more important than ever.

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

These values are crucial for social justice, but they are also -- according to psychological humanism -- essential foundations of mental health.

People are basically good (a humanistic belief), but all of us are subject to the infections of fear, shame, selfishness, despair, criticalness and coerciveness. Sometimes we're losing the fight, which causes suffering in ourselves and others.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. Returning to our humanistic values, again and again, fosters this deepening.

This is much more complicated and difficult -- and also more powerful and healing -- than anti-humanistic ideologies would have you believe.

It's the heart of humanistic counseling.

GETME is a place to receive counseling & psychotherapy, as well as a training center for professionals who offer these services.

08/20/2025

My Wednesday evening Action Group, 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀, starts two weeks from tonight!

An Action Group is different from what we might call "discussion therapy." Following the instruction to "show, don't tell," we get out of our chairs and enact the situations of our lives where problems do or did arise.

With the support of the facilitator and the group, we are:
𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 as to what happened.
𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 to try out new behaviors.
𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 to view the past differently, and imagine a different future.

None of this happens without proper warm-up of the group, and members participate only at their comfort level.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 / 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 / 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 / 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 / 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 / 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

This is in-person, in Portland. Sliding scale. Interview required. Reach out if you have any questions. Thank you for spreading the word!

"Empathy for Dudes" is an Action Group designed to help men develop better relationship skills, and expand their understanding of their own and others' thoughts, feelings and behavior.

08/19/2025

𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀
𝘊𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱
𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝟱:𝟯𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟳:𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺
𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 9𝘵𝘩
𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 / 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 / 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 / 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿 / 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 / 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Tuesdays, 5:30pm Resumes September 9th Balancing Acts is an action group of approximately 6-8 people who meet weekly to help one another to explore and resolve their dilemmas, challenges and suffer…

08/19/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 -- Here are the answers to the Person-Centered Quiz:

𝟭) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 "𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀" 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲?
The answer is 6. Rogers never used the term "core conditions." That phrase was coined by later writers who used it used to denote the three "therapist-offered conditions" among the six. The trouble with ignoring the other three conditions is that doing so privileges therapist processes while ignoring client processes, badly distorting Rogerian theory, which is deeply concerned with both. All six are presented in his classic 1957 paper, “The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change."

𝟮) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀" 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵?
The answer is 19. In his 1951 book, 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, Rogers combined phenomenology, gestalt field theory, and his notions of the conditions for therapeutic change into a set of nineteen propositions that form the philosophical ground of Person-Centered work. If you haven't studied these, you really can't be said to know this theory.

𝟯) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟵?
The answer is 40. In the late 1950s, the APA asked major theorists to contribute chapters to a book on psychotherapy they were putting together. Rogers' chapter, "𝘈 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴: 𝘈𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬," remains the clearest systematic expression of Person-Centered thought. This is a dense piece of writing, and rewards multiple readings.

𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗜𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆," 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻"?
Yes, these are contrasting concepts in Rogerian theory. It doesn't help that Rogers himself was not always consistent in his terminology. But, in the above mentioned chapter -- actually, the first two of his 40 operational definitions -- he carefully distinguishes between 1) the 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮'𝘴 needs from 2) a separate, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 process. "Self-Actualization" too often represents a kind of false self, and can actually be the problem in Rogerian theory. Does this surprise you?

I hope it's obvious that the point of the quiz is not for therapists to be familiar with these 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. Rather, I'm attempting to call attention to the rich history and depth of thought in a tradition that goes back over 90 years. So many of today's popular approaches owe a huge debt to the person-centered tradition without any understanding or attribution.

Come study the original theory celebrating egalitarian, non-pathologizing, collaborative, strength- and compassion-based therapy.

https://getme.org/person-centered-therapy/

08/18/2025

Attention Therapists - Take this Person-Centered Therapy Quiz!

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐴𝑛 8-𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝐼𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
https://getme.org/person-centered-therapy/

Becoming more Person-Centered is an adventure of personal growth as much as it a path to becoming a more helpful therapist. Properly understood, these two things go hand-in-hand.

Many therapists believe they already know everything about Person-Centered Therapy -- what it is, how it's practiced, that there is, supposedly, "no actual theory" there.

𝗔 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘇:

Is there really no actual theory? There's a great deal more to Person-Centered Therapy than "being nice" and "empathetic," and enormously more than repeating the client's words. Take this (very short!) quiz and see if you're familiar with the most rudimentary elements of person-centered thought.

1) How many "Conditions" did Rogers describe? (Hint: the answer is not 3!)

2) How many Person-Centered "Propositions" did Rogers put forth? (Have you even heard of these?)

3) How many operational definitions did Rogers require when he put forth his most systematic explication of PC theory in 1959? (Rogers was ever systematic?)

Essay Question: In Rogerian Theory, what is the difference between "The Actualizing Tendency," and the "The Tendency to Self-Actualize"? (Yep, these are two distinct process in PC theory, and their difference lies at the heart of his complex theory of change.)

(Answers tomorrow!)

Come learn the basic theory and practice of this elemental counseling approach. Even if you don't plan on identifying as a Person-Centered therapist, engaging deeply with Person-Centered Therapy's humanistic values and interventions can support your work in most other approaches.

This course will help you to:

Integrate Person-Centered perspectives into your life & work.
Increase your therapeutic presence.
Select the most fruitful directions for therapeutic exploration.

What: A course on Person-Centered Therapy Who: Clinicians who want to learn Rogerian theory, and enhance their clinical effectiveness. When: 8 Thursdays, from 10am to 12:30pm. September 11th, 18th,…

08/14/2025

GETME's Action Groups are not "discussion therapy."

Instead, we get out of our chairs and 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙩 the scenes and circumstances where problems arise. This helps to move us past an avoidant, intellectual round-and-round of talking, as we slow down and notice our actual experience during the moment of encounter. (We do this whether the encounter is with something within us or outside of us.)

This creates embodied, "action insight," which I believe is more helpful for reorganizing our thoughts, feelings and behavior than mere intellectual insight.

Call now to connect with business.

08/13/2025

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬
GETME's Wednesday evening action group for men resumes 9/3/25.
Peace / Wholeness / Connection / Understanding / Calm / Strength

"Empathy for Dudes" is an Action Group designed to help men develop better relationship skills, and expand their understanding of their own and others' thoughts, feelings and behavior.

08/11/2025

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴: 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘌 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆
𝘈𝘯 8-𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟭𝘁𝗵.
https://getme.org/person-centered-therapy/