I am delighted to be joining this amazing group of dedicated healers at Integrative Health Institute as a counselling provider. As a new member of this caring and wonderful team, I want to introduce my work style and what I have to offer.

So what are my goals and my way of working?

My goal is to help reduce your suffering, and help you reach your life goals. I want you to experience more creative flow, loving-kindness and joy in your life. My other goal is to protect your confidentiality and make you feel protected and safe during counselling sessions. How do I go about achieving this? I work collaboratively with you and, if you give me permission, with the other providers. Based on what you contribute to each counselling session, I offer feedback in a variety of ways all tailored to what you might need at the moment.

Initially I do my best to make you feel comfortable. I listen with curiosity and empathy to build a therapeutic relationship based on kindness, compassion and unconditional regard. Ample research shows that this is the most helpful element of “talk therapy” no matter what modality the therapist uses.

Once in counselling session, I find that people feel at ease with me because I am naturally engaged, authentic and direct. I practice a philosophy of being fully and humanly present. I embrace Martin Buber’s philosophy of being fully present in a relationship framed by mutual respect. My approach is not like the therapists you see in movies, where the therapist is silent and writes on a pad, aloof and distant. I will offer my views when asked as well as if and when I see it might benefit you. It will always be in terms of the goals we define during our initial counselling sessions.

Mindfulness is one of my favourite tools to use.

Dr. John Kabbatt Zinn, a physician that developed uses of mindfulness to work with pain, defines mindfulness as being aware, in the moment, without judgment. He found that when his patients stopped avoiding their pain, they could bear it with less discomfort and were able to suffer less. With emotional distress, it works pretty much the same. It helps by liberating your energies to solve the problems that make you suffer in the first place.

At the beginning of each counselling sessions, I offer to lead you in a very short mindfulness practice to help you relax and focus. I use mindfulness during our counselling session to stay connected and aware of what you bring to share. This awareness will help you stay in the moment, be more aware of what is going on with your feelings and open ways to deal with your distress effectively.

The rest of the time I listen. I pay attention to my intuition, but also to patterns, imagery, myths, thinking traps, somatic changes and emotions as they relate to what might be keeping your energies stuck. My ability to use divergent thinking comes in handy when imagining how you experience the world and for noticing patterns and making connections that help me “get” what is happening internally with you. I also stay aware of my intellectual and emotional responses to what you bring to the counselling session. When you ask, I offer my responses to you generously and transparently.

Looking into what is happening in other people’s soul is very moving and requires being open and vulnerable in order to be sensitive to details and to understand your condition with any depth. I know how to take care of myself in the process, and how to keep you as emotionally safe as possible, too. Finding the unique effective intervention that helps you get your life in flow with your goals and desires is my reward.

It is like a complex puzzle for which I get the pleasure of finding a solution. To solve it, I use a wide range of techniques gathered in more than 30 years of facilitating change with people. In our counselling sessions, I will address any fear with kindness and compassion, and help you uncover sources of courage and resilience to accomplish what you defined as your goals for our work together.

I imagine that you might have questions about how I can serve your particular needs best. Asking questions and listening to the answers is a great way to figure your fit with a particular therapist, which is important for effective treatment. At IHI, you can book a complimentary meet and greet appointment, where you can get a sense of whether my work style might be compatible with your needs, now or in the future. You can book an appointment below with the Book Now button.

It is in my interest to work with people who I find are compatible with my skills and gifts as a therapist.

My intention is to make every counselling session worthwhile for you. I do a brief check-in at the end of each counselling session to track how our collaboration is working and hope you take something useful with you.

Here are some useful links:

My website: www.arielblau.com, (You can read about my training)

Some useful Apps that you can get for free (The following information does not constitute endorsement by Integrative Health Institute):

Depression: Mood Tools

Managing Emotions: ACT Coach

Mindfulness: Head Space

Relaxation: Relax Melodies

Ariel Blau has a formidable passion for helping his clients energize a joyful, loving and creative life. He has more than 30 years of experience helping people bloom. Let him work together with you to help you reduce your suffering and use your internal gifts to accomplish the experiences and life you want.

Ariel will listen and connect with you in an authentic, courageous and powerful way. He will actively help you cultivate and develop your unique traits to find a state of positive flow, overcoming emotional, interpersonal and other problems. Working together with you, he will help you improve your sense of connection to others and to your life’s purpose.

Let him help you get unstuck so you can endow your life with more meaning, love and compassion. Let Ariel help you embrace your goals and empower your actions in the direction you always wished them to take.

Find out more about Ariel at his website.

Take action now towards a better life by making an appointment to meet and discuss how he can help you fulfill your needs.