Paula Chu, Ph.D.
Licensed Professional Counselor
offering coaching and professional counseling services

Who are my clients?

My counseling practice generally serves the "worried well." Doesn't that describe most of us at some point in our lives? My clients are curious and creative people who are feeling stuck, are finally ready to put to rest some old family issues, or are running into patterns or anxieties that they are tired of carrying around. Counseling helps you return to your purpose of growing and of being a source of light -- in your relationships and in our world.

The process of counseling works best when you are actively involved, honest, and willing to work on your growth both in sessions and between them. No one can "change" you, but counseling can provide a time and a place for you to mobilize your own inner resources to change. My job is to understand your perspective and experience and to hold before you a clearer and more useful "mirror" than the one you might be viewing yourself and your existence in. My purpose is to help you move toward living with compassion, humor, resilience, and a deeper sense of meaning.

Playwright Edward Albee once wrote: "Sometimes you have to shake things up to get them to fall into place." Sometimes counseling shakes things up, stirs up painful memories, losses, regrets. However, I hold a fundamental assumption that the risks involved in working through one's barriers to growth are balanced by the benefits of furthering that growth and embracing greater well-being. I believe we are hard-wired to grow, and that growth will occur naturally if we remove the barriers to that growth.

I value the opportunity to work with clients of varied ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. I honor loving relationships and families among people of any sexual orientation.

Working with Couples:

My work with couples can best be described as relationship coaching, as in my practice I work only with couples where both people are ready and willing to fully participate in the process of change and of deepening their connection. Relationship coaching can be invaluable for committed couples who want to strengthen their communication, deepen their trust, and learn how to better nurture and enjoy their partnership. I coach couples in the processes of dialogue and repair*, and deeply believe in the importance of turning towards* each other in daily interactions, and in practicing full respect living• at all times. I treat with great care the special privilege of being invited into the conversation of two people who share a desire to thrive within a relationship and who have the courage to choose actively loving each other over wanting to be right. When both people approach the process with hearts open, couples find this work challenging, strengthening, and ultimately joyful.

* thank you to John Gottman for these terms and
•Terrence Real for this term

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"Kindness is more important than wisdom,
and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom."
-- Theodore Isaac Rubin