Why I Love my Practice

By Kathlyn McHugh RCC, RSW

I first knew I wanted to be a therapist when I was teaching in a very remote northern Indigenous community in BC near the Yukon.  I was supposed to be delivering the curriculum, but I always found a way to steer the conversation back to the youths’ lives.  I was fascinated to get a glimpse into their world and eager to explore how they made sense of things. 

I fell in love with the process of discovering each human essence no matter who they were. 

I learned that when you get invited into someone’s heart-mind, your own heart-mind grows and blossoms, and you change - even if it’s just a little. 

I’ve always been a voracious learner and curious beyond the bounds of what could be contained at times.  So, what could be better than to journey with folks through their bio-psycho-socio-historical-emotional landscape? 

As I became more seasoned, I realized that it was more than a “walking with” - it was a co-creation of new possibilities.  Through my studies, life experience, and honoured gifting of knowledge and sharing of self from my clients, I have learned about the vast offerings the “other world” provides.  The imaginal, archetypal, symbolic, spiritual, and, of course, Nature-Body - all of the non-human life here to sustain and inspire us - take part in the transformation of trauma and pain to create something new and beautiful.   Like the sculptor chipping away the excess sandstone or shining up the tarnished precious metal to reveal the shine, together, we reveal what is underneath.

Joining with clients in the creative and surprising process of untangling that which is bound unnecessarily and integrating that which needs connecting.  I also have a deep appreciation for being a part of the evolution of families over the years and watching the magical unfolding of lives. 

I cannot imagine anything more profound or exciting. 

As my own family comments, you have the best career anyone could have:  To be in total alignment with who you are; at peace and in love with what you do and who you do it with.  Finding joy and novelty in every hour that I sit with the divine of each person every day. 

I would not be me without my practise.