About Us

What We Believe

Do the Work First

As counsellors it is important for us to know our own history, and do the work, in order to be good guides. At HaidSmith, we wouldn’t ask anything of anyone that we wouldn’t be willing to do ourselves. In fact, we have first hand experience in every aspect of the work we undertake, and the things we ask our clients to try or take on.

Healing From Within

We live in a society that typically deals with symptoms.  People are by nature experiential, so they can’t heal when they’re out of a relationship – they can’t do the work involved. You grow and evolve within relationships not in a sterile environment.

Value Around Honesty

Even if we give feedback to people that they might not like, or may not always want to hear, it is always with the best of intentions. We listen, and speak with the goals of achieving understanding and addressing blind spots. We work towards making the unconscious, conscious; the intangible, tangible; the invisible, visible; the unaware, aware.

Value Under Confidentiality

Everything we facilitate is to enhance safety and security and we do this by respecting people’s ethical and legal rights, and the need for signed consent.

Safety is Pivotal

We first seek to make people feel comfortable, safe, and understood, so that we can get a gauge of your required needs, pace and level of security.  However, once a climate of safety – both in approach and setting – is established, it is also critical that we challenge our clients in order to continue to make progress.

HaidSmith provides a safe environment where people can recover their abilities, express themselves without judgment or criticism, and that is conducive to ongoing learning and personal growth.

Therapy is Not a Life Sentence

Therapy should be a supportive journey designed to take an individual through a process whereby they recover the self. Once they are connected to themselves, and grow in their self worth they can then begin to make worthwhile contributions to their own life, family, community, extended relationships, and the world.

Each Journey is Different

Our approach to therapy will differ from person to person, depending upon their degree of brokenness, the amount of trauma they have had, and whether they had a secure or insecure launching in life. We work to build that foundation so that each person who engages in the work can grow and become the best person they are capable of becoming.

Becoming ‘Unstuck’ is the Key

When an individual is in trauma, they freeze and go into stasis. When this occurs, we not only stop growing and tighten up, but we can actually wall off and disown parts of ourselves: important things like our voice, our ability to play, to move, to live without pain, and to survive. Understanding this, allows us to regain those lost parts of our self, and to bring forward new parts;  the tools and abilities that can empower us to move forward.

New Possibilities for the Self

We all have the capacity for life-long learning. We can learn at any stage of development, and any age. Our work creates the seeds for people to do be able to do this. Even in the stages of profound grief, trauma and separation, there are growth opportunities that can be carried forward.

Not Supporting Bitterness

If you become bitter and shut down, it benefits no one, especially not yourself. Neither is it conducive for self-growth to continue blaming people for their past actions, and what they are unable to be in life, or take on. Our approach to therapy is not to aid or support bitterness, but rather to engender growth and build human potential. We try to help our clients not use past relationships and actions as limitations or excuses, but rather, as a starting point to expand the self.

We’re All a Little Damaged

We’re all in a process of becoming more and learning throughout our entire lives.  Just as plants need nurturing, nutrition, and the ideal supports for growth, so do humans. The right therapy can provide this environment for people.