If you knew the secret history of those you'd like to punish, you'd find a suffering & sorrow to disarm all your hostility.
Longfellow
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Imago Certified
The Imago Center of Washington DC is the first certified Imago Center in the world.
Food for Thought
Meredith Janson, MA
Office: Capitol Hill
Phone: 202.449.3789 x 709 **Meredith is currently on Maternity Leave until early 2013**
Meredith Janson works with adult individuals and couples and uses both short-term and long-term therapy. While the journey of therapy can often require opening up to and working through pain and loss, it can also be an opportunity to discover inner resilience and hope in your life. I recognize that the decision to seek counseling is a big step, and for that reason it is important to me that my clients achieve their therapeutic goals and also gain tools they will use in their future.
My approach is warm, non-judgmental, collaborative and down-to-earth. Change happens when you feel understood, and when you are helped by another person to identify and transform patterns of behavior that may no longer serve you. I believe in creating a safe environment for my clients to explore their feelings. When we meet, I will listen carefully and help you identify goals we will work on together, to create lasting change and healing.
My specialties include:
- Relationship and dating issues
- Marital problems, such as: communication struggles; feeling “stuck” in conflict; parenting challenges; lack of connection; infidelity
- Anxiety and stress
- Depression
- Work and career
- Loss-and bereavement-related issues: grief counseling; terminal diagnosis in yourself or a loved one; divorce or end of relationship; job loss; relocation
- Partners and children of substance abusers: co-dependency; Al-Anon; adult children of alcoholic and dysfunctional families
- Body image issues: compulsive overeating; chronic dieting; struggles with weight
- Creative exploration: I have specialized training in Expressive Arts Therapy. When clinically appropriate, I may incorporate visual art, writing, music, movement and drama into therapy.
Group Therapy:
Improv Therapy: A therapy group for all ages that uses the skills and practices of improv to help overcome anxiety, worry, stress and shyness. Improv-therapy can also be custom designed as a workshop to your needs. Inquire for further details. Learn more about my Improv-Therapy workshops and groups here: www.improvtherapydc.com
Education and Experience:
B.A., (magna cum laude), French and Political Science, Wellesley College.
M.A., Counseling Psychology (specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy), California Institute of Integral Studies.
I have completed Basic Clinical Training in Imago Relationship Therapy and am a member of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Imago Therapists. My interest in becoming trained in the Imago approach comes from personal experience. My husband and I worked with an experienced Imago-trained therapist for two years, prior to getting married. Because Imago therapy has had a lasting positive impact on my marriage, I feel passionate about helping couples find their way through challenging times.
I came to the Imago Center with ten years’ clinical experience, including bereavement counseling at The Wendt Center for Loss and Healing in Washington, D.C., where I worked with individual clients and led a group for women grieving the loss of their mothers. I was also a grief counselor at Sutter VNA & Hospice in San Francisco, California, where I also led support groups for Spousal Loss and for Motherless Daughters. I have worked as a crisis hotline volunteer for Family Paths in Oakland, California, and as a patient care volunteer with terminal hospice patients in San Francisco.
Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked for ten years as a journalist and communications professional. I continue to write for women's magazines, including Family Circle and Shape, specializing in the topic of women's health and psychology.
My Clinical Approach:
I use various approaches in my work, including Psychodynamic, in which we explore early experiences and feelings that might define present behavior; Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, where we work at changing thoughts and behavior through methods such as mindfulness meditation in order to make positive changes; Imago Relationship Therapy, a form of couples counseling which focuses on specific steps couples can learn to help them communicate effectively and restore connection; and Psychodrama, a drama therapy method where we may use role-playing to lead to catharsis and healing.
Phone: 202.449.3789 x 709