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Still Lighthousing

Lately I’ve come to think of lighthousing as a verb…kind of the opposite of gaslighting. I’ve shared a bit about how I use this concept of the lighthouse in growing a flourishing practice. I also think that shining the light on others is a kind of lighthousing as well.

As we are heading into the home stretch with the 2017 cohort of the Fellowship Training Group (coaching and psychotherapy training), more and more I want to “lighthouse” the participants. Over the course of the past 9 months, they have worked diligently and it shows. Confidence is on the rise as it is rooted in hard won competence. They have practiced and studied and practiced some more. It shows.

In our last session, they dove far past limitations of traditional talk therapy and learned to help clients (AND themselves) untether from the pull of unconscious identities and identifications. It was deeply rewarding to watch the lightbulbs come on as painful tensions fell away. One more month to go!

As we move into this final stretch, I want to introduce another practitioner to you, Bobby McNamara, L.C.S.W. Bobby came to AAIT steeped in schema therapy and addictions work. His understanding of AAIT coupled schema therapy is inspiring. I look forward to see how it evolves in his practice. Despite his commitment to a young and growing (Welcome ALEX!) family, Bobby has managed to find time to refine his skills and increase his therapeutic effectiveness.

Why did I decide to get certified in AAIT?

I was introduced to Melanie when I attended a lunch training she was doing that explained AAIT. I decided to participate in a weekend training she was offering because I was looking for a therapeutic approach that was more effective than the theories I had been using. Going into the weekend training, I’ll admit I was very skeptical but yet curious. I witnessed AAIT help resolve others problems very quickly but still felt skeptical. On the second day of the training, I experienced AAIT for myself for the first time and that experience erased all skepticism I had. I took the skills I learned from that weekend and implemented them in my practice with clients. Clients were resolving problems that normally would take months of therapy in a single 1 hour session. Many respond with genuine appreciation. And clients who have been in therapy before will say, “this (AAIT) is what I have been looking for.” It was then that I knew I needed to learn everything I could about AAIT and become certified in AAIT. Simply put, I went into social work so I can help people and AAIT is helping me do this in ways I was limited before I used AAIT.

How am I using it now?

I am using AAIT to help my clients uncover their true self. This practice frees people from their conditioned self which includes limited beliefs, character defects, and old wounds so they can experience their true self freely. I am helping clients resolve problems they did not know they could ever resolve.  I use AAIT to help people who are dealing with minor problems and trauma and everything in between.

What difference has it made to your clients?

One client told me, “I feel like I am a boy in a candy store picking out a problem I want to resolve next.” I am seeing clients empower themselves with the ability to be more in control over taking care of their emotional well-being. AAIT is helping clients improve their own insight, be able to respond more and be less reactive, improve their journey of self-acceptance and feel a sense of wholeness and well-being.

What difference has it made to you personally?

AAIT is helping me live more in my true self and less in my conditioned self. AAIT is a major part of my self-care.

Who do you really love serving?

People who are eager to resolve their emotional suffering.

How can people find you? 

People can call 847-691-8806, find me on Facebook @aaitbobbymcnamara or Bobby McNamara, Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I also work with people who do not have an AAIT practitioner in their community via video conferencing.