What’s with the Logo?

The logo of the tree is a metaphor of how I like to think about therapy. The tree symbolizes many things, but first and foremost you, or more specifically, your life. The fruit of the tree are the things that are becoming evidence to you of the state of your health. “Bad fruit” might be anger outbursts, addictions, anxiety attacks, relationship problems, or a host of other mental health problems. These issues are evidence that something is out of place and not working right somewhere in your life.

For some of these problems the support that is needed might be brief requiring a little bit of pruning, watering, nurturing, and protecting. In therapy terms that might mean providing a bit of support in order to get through a difficult time when normally adequate coping mechanisms are overwhelmed. However, for other, more serious problems, a thorough examination of the whole tree (the fruit to the root of the tree) may be in order. In other words, for problems that are more serious, wreaking havoc in your relationships, occupational life, and personal life, exploration of the roots (anything that can be contributing to your problems) may be in order.

Many people do not see themselves as a healthy, full tree with deep roots, but as a half-dead, scrawny tree with shallow roots and little growth. Therapy, from this perspective, means working together on your health to nurture deep roots with plenty of growth and thus the production of healthy, nourishing fruit. Another application of the tree metaphor is regarding the seasons. It is the characteristics of the seasons that effect the life of a tree, either supporting it or adding stress to it, preventing growth or nurturing a bountiful yield of fruit. Just like the individual client undergoing struggles (difficult seasons), there is a benefit from gaining support to not only cope with the difficult seasons of life, but to grow from them. As a tree looks very different through the seasons, and yet retains a unique beauty through them all, through therapy a person can come to recognize that every season in our life has not only its challenges but its own unique meaning and, yes, even beauty.

The other reason for the tree as the logo for Woods Psychological Services is obvious in that it works with my name.