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  • chestnu1@bellnet.ca
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About Us

About Us

About James

  • In addition to his two academic degrees, James has undertaken several significant training programs in psychotherapy.
  • He trained at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto for one year. This was a program in chaplaincy. Through it he began to learn how to be fully present with people who came to him for help. Chaplaincy does not include a “treatment model” but aims to engage with people on their own terms. It does this through a focus on the self-awareness of the chaplain. It aims to help the chaplain set their Ego aside, to set aside their goals for the Other so the Other can be fully seen and experienced. This is a life-long learning process.
  • Having no lens through which to see others is impossible. That would mean being blind. What matters is to know the strengths and weaknesses of the lenses you use. James learned to see through multiple lenses.
  • He trained at the Toronto Institute for Human Relations in a one year Internship. In this program he learned to see that people had different “parts” which interact with each other and engage differently with the world. He also learned more about observing the presence of these “parts” through non-verbal means. This was training in Gestalt Therapy and was geared towards working with individuals.
  • Following this training he entered into a two year Internship at Interfaith Pastoral Counselling Centre in Kitchener where he learned models useful in working with couples and families.
  • The accumulated training left him feeling some dissatisfaction because it asked him to be constantly switching his models as he worked. For example, he could see a father in the “family system” but that same father was also an individual with his own personal history and struggles. James’ “individual-focused” could help him see the father as individual but then the family system role disappeared. Or he could see the father as part of a complex family system but the father as an individual disappeared. James longed for a way of working that would overcome the confusion and limitations of multiple models.
  • He found this through training with David Schnarch. Schnarch’s “model” is too complex to discuss here. In a nut-shell it proposes that the individual/family/couple system is a living process which is directed towards the personal growth and development of its members. This complex system creates forces which push people toward personal growth. They can learn to align themselves with these forces, to not “push the river”.
  • James now tries to work within this framework as best he can. He also recognizes he must continue his learning and especially continue to learn about himself so he can get himself out of the way in order to better see and understand his clients.

Why Chose Me

  • James has worked as a therapist for over 40 years. He has the required academic training to be a Registered Psychotherapist. He is also a former Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, a designation which has been subsumed into Registered Psychotherapist. A Registered Marriage and Family Therapist requires a two year supervised internship after an academic degree. James undertook two additional one year internships for a total of here years of post-degree hands-on training.

My mission is to help individuals improve their relationship with their self and with the people in their world they love.

My vision is to work to improve relational intelligence. In a culture which has valued the individual and personal development this vision goes against the grain. Without improved relational intelligence we will continue to have increased polarity and increased relationship breakdown.

I value absolute respect for each person and the absolute equality of each person. I also value openness, curiosity and a deep desire to undersand.

About James

  • In addition to his two academic degrees, James has undertaken several significant training programs in psychotherapy.
  • He trained at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto for one year. This was a program in chaplaincy. Through it he began to learn how to be fully present with people who came to him for help. Chaplaincy does not include a “treatment model” but aims to engage with people on their own terms. It does this through a focus on the self-awareness of the chaplain. It aims to help the chaplain set their Ego aside, to set aside their goals for the Other so the Other can be fully seen and experienced. This is a life-long learning process.
  • Having no lens through which to see others is impossible. That would mean being blind. What matters is to know the strengths and weaknesses of the lenses you use. James learned to see through multiple lenses.
  • He trained at the Toronto Institute for Human Relations in a one year Internship. In this program he learned to see that people had different “parts” which interact with each other and engage differently with the world. He also learned more about observing the presence of these “parts” through non-verbal means. This was training in Gestalt Therapy and was geared towards working with individuals.
  • Following this training he entered into a two year Internship at Interfaith Pastoral Counselling Centre in Kitchener where he learned models useful in working with couples and families.
  • The accumulated training left him feeling some dissatisfaction because it asked him to be constantly switching his models as he worked. For example, he could see a father in the “family system” but that same father was also an individual with his own personal history and struggles. James’ “individual-focused” could help him see the father as individual but then the family system role disappeared. Or he could see the father as part of a complex family system but the father as an individual disappeared. James longed for a way of working that would overcome the confusion and limitations of multiple models.
  • He found this through training with David Schnarch. Schnarch’s “model” is too complex to discuss here. In a nut-shell it proposes that the individual/family/couple system is a living process which is directed towards the personal growth and development of its members. This complex system creates forces which push people toward personal growth. They can learn to align themselves with these forces, to not “push the river”.
  • James now tries to work within this framework as best he can. He also recognizes he must continue his learning and especially continue to learn about himself so he can get himself out of the way in order to better see and understand his clients.

Experience

  • Executive Director, Guelph-Wellington Counselling Centre
  • Supervisor of Family Counselling Service, Guelph-Wellington Children's Aid Society, Guelph, Ontario
  • Supervisor of Family Counselling, Family Services Perth-Huron, Stratford, Ontario
  • Family Therapist, Family Counselling Service, Guelph
  • Staff Trainer, Interfaith Pastoral Counselling Centre, Kitchener
  • Founder and Director of a psychotherapy training program at Family Services, London.
  • Over 30 years of experience in private practice.

Experience

  • Executive Director, Guelph-Wellington Counselling Centre
  • Supervisor of Family Counselling Service, Guelph-Wellington Children's Aid Society, Guelph, Ontario
  • Supervisor of Family Counselling, Family Services Perth-Huron, Stratford, Ontario
  • Family Therapist, Family Counselling Service, Guelph
  • Staff Trainer, Interfaith Pastoral Counselling Centre, Kitchener
  • Founder and Director of a psychotherapy training program at Family Services, London.
  • Over 30 years of experience in private practice.

Philosophy

  • I believe people always think they are doing the best they can to solve their problems. However, they also know they aren’t doing their best or they wouldn’t seek therapy. So what is it which prevents them from doing their genuine best? They are limited by how they think about themselves, their partner, and “how the world should be.” These limitations are constraints learned from the family and culture in which they were raised. This is not about blaming anyone or anything. It is simply a statement about the truth of being a human being. We all learn how we are supposed to be. Just as a scientist learns the ways of thinking and behaving to be a proper scientist or a tradesman learns the same about their trade, we all learn how to be a “proper” human being.
  • What we’ve learned becomes like running on auto-pilot. It becomes a guidance system so deeply ingrained we don’t even know we have it operating. But we see it at work by its failures. When the relationship isn’t going as well as we thought it would or should. When our individual life isn’t bringing us the satisfaction we thought it would. These conflicts or problems are markers telling us our guidance system isn’t working.
  • The goal of therapy is to increase the client’s awareness of the nature of their guidance systems, to take it off auto-pilot and to create a new one that will (temporarily) work better. Guidance systems always need attention and maintenance. Good therapy will help the client be able to most often provide the maintenance their guidance systems need. It will also help them to know when their blind spots prevent them from seeing where maintenance is needed.
  • This goal is achieved through a partnership between therapist and client(s). My training, experience and expertise and, most importantly, my curiosity to understand these guidance systems can offer a mirror for the client to see themselves more clearly. The inherited guidance system offers only a distorted view. Therapy does not provide an alternative guidance system. That choice/design is entirely up to the client.
  • The client’s contribution to this partnership is a courageous willingness to explore more deeply their needs, feelings, beliefs and experiences, to carefully examine their interior voices and to understand where they come from. This means a careful examination of the source of those voices in family and cultural background.
View James’ profile at::https://www.facebook.com/chestnutcounselling
View James’ profile at::https://www.theravive.com/therapists/james-morgan.aspx

Philosophy

  • I believe people always think they are doing the best they can to solve their problems. However, they also know they aren’t doing their best or they wouldn’t seek therapy. So what is it which prevents them from doing their genuine best? They are limited by how they think about themselves, their partner, and “how the world should be.” These limitations are constraints learned from the family and culture in which they were raised. This is not about blaming anyone or anything. It is simply a statement about the truth of being a human being. We all learn how we are supposed to be. Just as a scientist learns the ways of thinking and behaving to be a proper scientist or a tradesman learns the same about their trade, we all learn how to be a “proper” human being.
  • What we’ve learned becomes like running on auto-pilot. It becomes a guidance system so deeply ingrained we don’t even know we have it operating. But we see it at work by its failures. When the relationship isn’t going as well as we thought it would or should. When our individual life isn’t bringing us the satisfaction we thought it would. These conflicts or problems are markers telling us our guidance system isn’t working.
  • The goal of therapy is to increase the client’s awareness of the nature of their guidance systems, to take it off auto-pilot and to create a new one that will (temporarily) work better. Guidance systems always need attention and maintenance. Good therapy will help the client be able to most often provide the maintenance their guidance systems need. It will also help them to know when their blind spots prevent them from seeing where maintenance is needed.
  • This goal is achieved through a partnership between therapist and client(s). My training, experience and expertise and, most importantly, my curiosity to understand these guidance systems can offer a mirror for the client to see themselves more clearly. The inherited guidance system offers only a distorted view. Therapy does not provide an alternative guidance system. That choice/design is entirely up to the client.
  • The client’s contribution to this partnership is a courageous willingness to explore more deeply their needs, feelings, beliefs and experiences, to carefully examine their interior voices and to understand where they come from. This means a careful examination of the source of those voices in family and cultural background.

View James’ profile at::https://www.facebook.com/chestnutcounselling

View James’ profile at::https://www.theravive.com/therapists/james-morgan.aspx

About Chestnut Counselling

James Morgan earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City with a specialization in psychiatry and religion. He earned a Master of Applied Science in Counselling and Human Relations from the University of Waterloo. He is a Member of the College of Psychotherapists of Ontario. He brings to his practice over 30 years of experience in providing individual, couple and family therapy.

James is an avid amateur musician. He plays guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, and more, and sings in a folk trio (GreenWood). He regularly attends the monthly Old Chestnuts Song Circle. He likes to be active in the outdoors and enjoys cycle touring, hiking, canoeing and camping. He is also a professional photographer. His photographs appear on this web site.

About Chestnut Counselling

James Morgan earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City with a specialization in psychiatry and religion. He earned a Master of Applied Science in Counselling and Human Relations from the University of Waterloo. He is a Member of the College of Psychotherapists of Ontario. He brings to his practice over 30 years of experience in providing individual, couple and family therapy.

James is an avid amateur musician. He plays guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, and more, and sings in a folk trio (GreenWood). He regularly attends the monthly Old Chestnuts Song Circle. He likes to be active in the outdoors and enjoys cycle touring, hiking, canoeing and camping. He is also a professional photographer. His photographs appear on this web site.

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519-745-3602

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chestnu1@bellnet.ca

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