counseling by kaci

A constant lament I hear a lot in my therapy room is: "...but it's so hard! I know what I should  do, but I can't. I just can't do it!" While I can absolutely appreciate that feeling  of not being able to do it, I would argue that belief is just not an actual fact . An important, but unpopular and unfamiliar realization is that we can actually recognize something is really hard and seemingly impossible, and do it anyway . I know that sounds sort of like a 'duh', and I swear I'm not saying that in a snarky, obvious way, but it's a truth most of us are really not aware of, and have little practice doing.  This concept of  'it's hard but you can do it anyway' can sort of be related to what we would call a 'dialectic'. The concept of dialectic s is essentially recognizing that there are two opposite things that can, and do, coexist at the same time. Take for instance, wet and dry. Or dark and light. Chocolate and vanil...

Many times when people come into counseling, they tell me what they want to change. Often people ask me where my magic wand is, or what 7 steps I can give them to achieve a better life, healthier relationships, or more successful marriage. And I don't blame them- by the time people are willing to invest their time, money and energy to come see a counselor, they are usually standing at a pretty powerful fork in the road and want immediate relief. Unfortunately for most of my clients, I don't have a magic wand (shhhh, don't tell them). And, also unfortunately, I totally skipped out on the class of the "The 7 magical steps to better living", so I can't actually give them that short cut either.  Where I usually start, though, is talking about self-care, and learning how to be gentle with themselves. Sounds cheesy I know, and I'm (painfully) aware that most clients aren't totally stoked for this, and want something a little meatier. Howeve...

I recently have decided to try having a bigger presence on social media. And by bigger presence, I really just mean a  presence.so, naturally I created an Instagram account (kaciguilfordcounseling, if you want to follow). I've heard Facebook is for 'old people' and Twitter must be for young people because it makes me feel ridiculously old- how does the twittering even work? Anyway- Instagram it is. And I do what every red-blooded, IG-obsessed American gal likes to do on instagram: I find and post memes. Funny, inspirational, or honest- depends on mood that day, and what I think others may want to here.  Of course, memes get old and I am trying to branch out. I have now started trying to include live videos (my worst nightmare) and trying to interact with "my followers". One of the things I am trying to start getting the hang of is something I am going to call #therapistthursdays. My vision is  for me to do a live video on Thursday, responding to a question or t...

Hi! My name is Kaci Guilford and I like to think of myself as a therapist. What that actually means is that I am ( technically) a licensed professional counselor in Denver, Colorado. I have been practicing as a therapist since 2009, spl love what I do, which sounds corny, but guess what? It's true, so I'll say it. I feel so blessed to have found a career that encompasses my passion and so many things I love all in one space. itting my time between a private practice in Denver and a counseling center in Parker. I primarily work with women who are in, what I like to refer to as "realignment": maybe transitioning between relationships, or big life roles like wife or mother, or maybe something a little bit more specific like adjusting into a recovery mindset from their eating disorder or addiction of some sort. I also work a lot with couples and men. I don't like to call myself  'specialized', because in my experience having a caseload without variety can ...