At one time it was thought that therapists should remain anonymous, so that they don't get in the way of clients' thought processes in therapy.
But now we know that the therapeutic relationship is responsible for much of the client's healing in therapy.
The person of the therapist is pivotal to the relationship and may have an effect above and beyond the techniques used in therapy. So let me tell you a bit about me.
Named Carlton Frederick Brown after the talented, wacky, older brother of my grandfather, I was born in Hamilton and raised in North Bay, Winnipeg and Toronto. The oldest of three boys, I learned to dry dishes at an early age.
I knew early that I wanted to be a healer and I thought that I would become a doctor. I got good marks in high school, but I became distracted in university (we're married now).
I played violin, studied Latin, and had an insatiable curiousity about how things worked. My Latin teacher invited me to look at alternate routes of healing.
I have always been interested in alternate routes, as well as creativity and humour, which I use in my work. My favourite poem is "The Road Not Taken".
So instead of medicine I went into medical research and studied how things worked at the biochemical level.
And then I decided to go to seminary, to learn how things worked at the metaphysical level.
Working for the church was a little too metaphysical for me. To keep the left side of my brain working I took up flying and got a pilot's license.
And for my day job I became a pastoral counsellor. I provided pastoral counselling services in Northern Ontario for a number of years.
Then I moved back to Hamilton to do more advanced studies in marriage and family therapy.
While studying, I worked as a chaplain in psychiatry, where I gained valuable experience in severe mental illness.
I began my practice of the care of people in 1986. I have been practicing as a therapist since 1993. I have been in full time private practice since 2005.
I taught family therapy and mental health, research and family therapy, and postmodern family therapy at the University of Guelph. I teach hypnosis now for the Canadian Society for Clinical Hypnosis - Ontario Division.
I married the girl who distracted me in university. This is us in 1980. We have known each other for over 40 years. Having our first child was so scary we swore we wouldn't have any more. We have three. Two of them have worked in theatre. I think it was my singing in the shower...
Time moves on and the "kids" are adults now. One writes and works in a library, one is a teacher, and one is a social worker. I am so proud of them!
A few years back my partner and I decided on a transition. We couldn't get the kids to leave home, so we did! We're now living on the Bruce Peninsula and working in Owen Sound.