From her first experience as a hospice volunteer, Barbara Olszanski, MA, PCC, CHT developed an affinity for helping people through major transitions in their lives. She found the experience to be very satisfying and a very spiritually healing type of work. So great was her calling to help people, she left her job to return to John Carroll University where she earned her Master's Degree and an in-depth education in counseling. As the owner of Living Well Counseling Services, Barbara is quick to testify, "It's deeply satisfying to be with people who are willing to grow and to facilitate that process by witnessing it, encouraging it, challenging it, supporting it, and walking it with them." We visited with Barbara recently as she described the services she offers;
Living Well Counseling Services provides a full range of counseling services for individuals, couples, and families. My clients may be experiencing depression, anxiety, or chronic illness, or they may be confronting life transition issues such as divorce, grief and loss, and parenting issues. My certification in hypnotherapy enables me to work with people in very effective and powerful ways. I do breath work, guided imagery and relaxation, meditation, and other approaches from an holistic perspective. I'm trained as a second degree Reiki practitioner and I have studied many other healing modalities utilizing techniques centered around the use of the body and its internal energy.
I base a lot of my work on my own journey through life, what I've learned, and the areas in which I've grown. My own religious background has expanded over time to include many other spiritual understandings such as Taoism, Buddhism, and the Native American tradition. As I've learned to incorporate these understandings into my own life, I also offer them as possible solutions in the work I do with other people. By nurturing the body, mind, heart, and spirit, solutions present themselves and the path of transition becomes much easier to navigate.
I have a great reverence for life and for the struggles that life brings. After being married for over thirty-six years and raising three children, I've learned that you don't go through life without experiencing difficulties. I bring a lot of my own life experience to my work and join people at the point they're at in their own personal struggles. I also bring with me a sense of humor that can bring light from a different perspective on the situation. Often I'll recommend books to help people understand certain concepts, or that they aren't alone.
When new clients come in, I first do some intake to find out who they are and what's going on in their life. Because I take a holistic approach, this intake includes their physical condition, too, due to the frequent body/mind connection. We then set goals according to what they want to accomplish, how they want their life to be different, and how we'll know when we're done. Periodically, we'll review those goals to determine how they're progressing.
This is philosophically a two-pronged process, providing them with the opportunity for growth both in self-awareness and in self-love. I usually meet once a week with new clients so we can develop the rapport, comfort level, and trust that enables them to open up. Toward the end, people will often come in every other week, or maybe once a month, and sometimes, I don't see people for a year or two before they come back with other issues that have arisen in their lives. In the field of hypnotherapy, I work with people who want to give up smoking, or work with alcohol issues or other types of addictive or compulsive behavior such as eating or gambling. We target these types of issues through a highly focused and targeted four sessions program.
My clients come to me for a variety of reasons ranging from wanting to change a specific area of their lives to seeking counseling when they realize they need help addressing a current life crisis. Other clients simply want to develop their full potential and desire personal growth in their own level of consciousness or spirituality.
As the journey through life brings trials and tribulations, Living Well Counseling Services can help you find the inner strength, peace of mind, and understanding that emanates from one who will walk the path with you. Call Living Well Counseling Services today and don't forget to tell them that The Advocate sent you!
