Blog
Welcome to the 3Rivers Center for Relationship blog. Our therapists will be posting current information here.
Weekend Couples Workshop preferred to Counseling
By Tim Higdon MS LPC A new trend is emerging where couples would rather spend a weekend restoring their connection than go to months of counseling. The obvious reason is the length of time involved. But, are their other advantages that are bringing couples to weekend workshops as well? To start with there are three paths couples take to restore their connection. First, they read a book (or blog, article, or newsletter) and attempt to do the exercises in the book. While gaining information and becoming educated about how to improve your...
read moreParents: Don’t PIC on Yourselves!
By Bea Ledyard, MS When I am sitting with parents in my office discussing their child I always make a point to tell them that they are good parents. Why do I think that? Because they have paid attention to their child – been concerned about something – want to make it better – and have taken action by being here with me. However usually they are surprised to hear me say this and I understand why. All of us parents have an inner voice that can be very loud, harsh and shaming which I call the Parental Inner Critic (PIC). This critical...
read moreLeft Brain vs Right Brain “Knowing”
By Mary Meador MD I am going to be teaching a course next month at Portland State University entitled The Science of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB). IPNB can be characterized as the scientific study of what it means to be human. It considers all fields of science, from physics and mathematics to psychology and anthropology, and explores the overlapping truths among them. This field aims to grasp the objective reality of subjective experience. Pretty cool, eh? The Science of IPNB course involves teaching a lot about neuroscience and the...
read moreYour Sense of Connection Can Enhance Your Relationship
by D’Arcy Swanson, LPC Most people want their romantic relationship to feel close, warm, and connected. At the heart of it, that is what brought you together in the first place. The truth is that feeling of connection is fluid. It ebbs and flows due to a thousand factors, many of which are just life. Children acting up, taxes due, a big work project, or just being exhausted can easily sap our energy and attention. And of course, some factors are about our relationship. Perhaps we feel unappreciated or dismissed or unimportant. ...
read moreThe Meaning of Marriage
The Meaning of Marriage by Mary Meador, MD Last weekend I had the honor of officiating my niece’s wedding, something I had never done before. What a tremendous experience! In the ceremony, I spoke about the meaning of marriage which I would like to share here. Marriage is an opportunity; an opportunity to experience that love is more than just a feeling, love is a verb. Marriage is an opportunity to co-create the relationship of your dreams. Marriage is an opportunity to learn to live in loving kindness towards each other each and every day....
read moreTim Higdon MS LPC
My professional journey began in family counseling, helping to bring high school dropouts back to school. As a Residential Treatment Director, I learned that teenagers were most successful when they have at least one caring adult in their corner. It wasn’t much of a stretch to understand that if I could help couples keep their marriages together everyone in the family benefits. I was introduced to Imago Relationship Therapy in 1993. It not only transformed my career it helped me understand my own marriage. A trained marriage counselor needs...
read moreBea Ledyard MS
I am passionate about self-discovery for myself and for my clients. I was initially inspired through my work with severely emotionally disturbed children in an innovative residential treatment program in the 1970’s. “Success” for each of the children and for the staff was a blend of skill building and creative self-exploration. This became a cornerstone of all my future work, using methods that have included Jungian depth psychology, expressive arts, play therapy, Imago Relationship Therapy, dreamwork, Interpersonal Neurobiology, ...
read moreStephen Ledyard MA MFT
Some thoughts about what I do. Something happens in my office when I sit with another person whose presence is motivated by a sincere desire for change. As we commit deeper to the question before us–without knowing the outcome —something happens in that space. The “In-between” I call it; The “Sacred Garden,” where the depth of one’s intention for growth and healing begins to warm the heart, that place where, as your guide, I have learned to trust the wisdom to be found there. My job is to help you trust that wisdom and follow it to wholeness....
read moreMiriam Ramsey MA LPC
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you. A Joy.” – Rumi The center of my work with others was born out of the healing waters of relationship…relationship with self, my clients, colleagues, family, and of course, with the Divine. It has been guided and developed into an approach which helps individuals identify their truth. One of the gifts I bring to this work is to provide a safe and sacred space in which to explore the deeper questions of self and spirit. I am dedicated to the healing and growth of those I...
read moreD’Arcy Swanson MC LPC
There is a way…a way to better relationships, better lives, relief from emotions, thoughts and personal patterns that keep us in pain, discontented and disheartened. The discomfort we feel is a message that change is needed, change to realign us with the flow of life by either bringing healthy resolve to issues from the past and present, or by new learning that enables us to find or construct a path forward that has ease, joy, and really works. Fortunately there are many effective methods for doing this, methods that are recent innovations...
read more