Ashley is honored to have listened to and witnessed many people’s stories during her time as a counselor, and before entering the helping professions. Her first experience of hearing someone’s story and recognizing how powerful it was to the other person to just be heard and listened to was when her maternal grandfather began talking to her one day about his service during WWII. The conversation began with her sharing with him the experience of a school assembly with members of the armed forces who had served in several different wars and conflicts. Her grandfather began to share his story. She knew by sense that she needed to just listen and so she stood there doing just that; asking no questions in that moment- just hearing her grandfather’s words. A cousin came over and began to ask questions, breaking the moment and causing her grandfather to stop talking. Ashley never forgot that moment and it played a major role in her decision to become a counselor. Ashley does use questions in her practice, but she is intentional and careful about their use because sometimes a person just needs to speak and know that their story is being heard and kept safe.
Keeping stories safe means honoring the moment of hearing them and holding the space for people to share and experience the telling of their story. Sometimes there are periods of silence to give clients the space they may need to share at and on their own time. These can sometimes feel uncomfortable. While most stories are not shared outside of you sharing them in your session, there are instances where information from those stories needs to be given to people outside of session. If someone wants to hurt themselves or somebody else, or if a child or elder is being hurt then it is part of Ashley’s job to tell someone who can help to keep them safe. Keeping secrets implies that nothing is ever shared or told. So, while Ashley will absolutely keep your stories safe, she will not be your secret keeper.
