Rate Trevor Buser

My name is Dr. Trevor Buser, and I am a licensed professional counselor in Georgia. I am also an associate professor of counseling, where I teach students who are becoming clinical mental health counselors. I have experience in helping clients with stress, anxiety, relationship issues, family conflicts, motivation, self esteem, and confidence. I also have experience working with career difficulties.

I consider it an honor to join clients in working toward their goals. I strive to create an open, accepting environment, where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. I believe it takes great courage to talk to someone new and open up to change.

I also believe that developing well-being is a subtle endeavor. One can spend an entire life going through the same routines in a stable way, even succeeding at many activities, and yet be miserable on the whole. The point is that the development of abiding well-being takes time, and it takes reflection. We must be willing to question nearly everything. We must be willing to explore and test the fine details of our situations. And, paradoxically, abiding well-being calls for great sacrifice. We must be willing to let go of inherited patterns and comfortable habits that have obstructed our paths to a more fulfilling way of moving through life.

What I can tell you about my work as a counselor is that, first of all, I sincerely enjoy being a fellow sojourner with clients through the mystery of life. I appreciate the soulful work of tangling with deep questions about what matters in life and why we do the things we do. We think through a lot of matters that are usually left unsaid, and I believe that every life situation is fundamentally workable, full of potential.

I can tell you also that I trust my clients immensely. I believe clients contain within themselves many of the strengths and resources necessary for change. I trust that, when clients are presented with the safe yet challenging environment of counseling, they are naturally inclined to employ their strengths and move in the direction of growth. In fact, one of the most important ingredients of effective counseling---if not the most important ingredient---is the client's motivation for trying something new.

The foundation of my work is an accepting, direct, and genuine relationship between counselor and client. I rely on empathy as the primary means of building a strong alliance with clients and collecting information about their lives. In short-term work with clients, I frequently supplement this person-centered approach with cognitive strategies. As implied above, our relationships, environments, and selves are always more complicated and multifaceted than we think them to be. Yet it is precisely these beliefs---short-sighted as they may be---which drive the feelings we experience and the options that seem available to us. In short, cognitive distortions arise as significant blocks on the path toward development.

I often, therefore, help clients identify thoughts and belief systems, rather than allow them free reign in organizing and leading behaviors. This first step contrasts sharply with the general human tendency of drifting through life without much reflection. I also seek to facilitate a process of sampling alternative ways of thinking. Additional options for growth tend to emerge as clients expand their appreciation of the multiple factors affecting any circumstance.

In her well-known poem, The Summer Day, Mary Oliver asks: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" We value Oliver's depiction of life as both wild and precious---two aspects of existence frequently overlooked in our day. My wish is that, if you decide counseling is an appropriate step at this time, we can use this time together to continue the exploration of this wild and precious life.