Inspiration
"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." – Buddha
"There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness, and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much." – Mother Teresa
"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu." ("A person is a person because of other people.") - Zulu proverb
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." - Albert Camus
"We’re all just walking each other home." - Ram Dass
Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There’s a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen
Education & Training
B.A. in Psychology from University of Texas at Austin
M.A. in Marriage, Family & Child Therapy from California Family Study Center (since renamed Phillips Graduate Institute), Los Angeles
Post graduate study & training in Modern Analysis, Hakomi Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Redecision Therapy, Gottman Method Couple Therapy, & Imago Relationship Therapy
Kathleen Harrington, M.A., L.M.F.T.
Psychotherapist
I believe that all of us have within us the capacity to heal ourselves. I believe that people don’t need to be cured and that we’re all inherently okay. The reason people work with a therapist is because they don’t always know it or believe it. I can help remind you – you are going to be okay.
The qualities that make a good therapist are difficult to explain with just words, but you’ll most likely know if it’s the right fit for you after one meeting. You either click or you don’t. And like most things, if it doesn’t quite fit, it’s not going to help to force it.
So I’m happy to meet in person. I’m also happy to try and tell you a bit about myself. Or at least a bit about what other colleagues and clients think of me: Calm. Still, deep waters. Intuitive. Grounded. Patient. And… (very important in a therapist) Sense of humor.
You might be wondering about my approach to therapy. I’m more of a delve-into-the-depths type, rather than a solution-focused-problem-solver. Some things take time.
It may help to know that I’ve dealt with and moved through some of life’s more challenging and painful situations myself: death of a close friend, parents’ declining health and death, divorce, taking on a second career, and being in a natural disaster. I also have experience with loved ones dealing with alcoholism, drug addiction and recovery.
I believe that it’s important to carry on doing one’s own inner work, so I continue my own therapy and consultation, as well as ongoing training in various modes of therapy.
I once heard a metaphor that beautifully describes the way I see my role: It is a dark night. There stands a lamp holder with a quietly glowing lamp on the end of a long pole. He extends his lamp out in front of a person alone in the shadows. That person steps forward, guided by the light, and the lamp holder follows.
This is a goal of mine in working with clients. To be your lamp holder.