Megan Maxwell (SHe/Her)

My Approach to Helping

My therapy work comes from a relational perspective that encourages growth through insight, self-acceptance, and choice. At its heart, all of my work is client-centered and built on a supportive therapeutic relationship. My approach is integrative and developmentally responsive to the needs of the client. I engage children in Child Centered Play Therapy. With relationships and adults, I go into deeper work using a Contemporary Gestalt approach. I believe that all people have the innate ability to self-regulate and meet our own needs in relationship with others. We adapt creatively to do the best we can with the tools we have and the circumstances we encounter. However, over the course of our lives we learn that some needs should not be expressed, or will not be met. My focus in helping is to bring awareness to unmet needs, insight into what gets in the way of us meeting them, and the ability to make a choice for the future.

Why I Became a Therapist

Over fifteen years as a classroom teacher, I developed a strong understanding of the unique struggles and pressures faced by children and parents today. I found a passion for supporting children and parents with emotional and behavioral challenges with a strengths based approach. In becoming a counselor I have discovered that the challenges we face and lessons we learn in childhood follow us into our adult relationships and lives. These can be lessons we learn from our families of origin, from our community, or from society at large in relation to our identities and the ways that we move in the world. I believe in working with children and parents to build strong foundations for the future, as well as working with adult relationships and individuals to address the issues that arise from our past in order to move forward.