You may have heard, but we recently brought some incredible Masters-level interns onto our team and we want YOU to get to know a bit about each of them and to hear their fun personalities in our interview-style blog series! Next up is Mr. Ryan Hambley!
1. What draws you to the counseling field? Why do you want to become a therapist?
As a former teacher, I learned that there is an achievement gap…meaning there is an educational disparity between kids that experience affluence and kids who experience poverty. While I fought the gap for eight years in Houston through my work in middle schools, I became privy and attracted to a more pressing gap…the love gap. Do not underestimate the pervasiveness of sin! The entrance of sin in this world has caused many mental health issues, ruptures in relationships, and brokenness in how we relate to God. Sounds unpleasant, huh? However, those who feel they are intimately known by others, I find, are able to endure and persevere through the pains and sufferings that sin can cause. I believe that those who experience genuine love are able to endure and thrive. I want to fight to stand in that gap; this is what draws me to give my life to the field and to loving people through counseling.
2. Have you been through counseling yourself? What was that experience like for you?
Yes, yes, and yes. I pay someone to help me to learn not to run away from my darkest thoughts. Haha. I need someone who I don’t know, an outside perspective, to help me to make sense of what I’m thinking. I honestly do not know how people could grow otherwise. I think we all need counseling, just like we all need a doctor. (Mic drop) When one finds the right counselor… I truly believe that magic happens. That is my experience! I find that I am able to turn from cold and confused, to warm and optimistic. There is something amazing that happens when someone is able to meet me where I am.
3. What’s something you would tell someone who’s thinking about talking with a counselor?
I would tell them or remind them that they are God’s masterpiece… and I would show them this video!
4. What is your favorite type of clientele/what are your specialties?
My favorite type of clientele are people who are willing to do the work and have at least a mustard seed of hope coming into the process. I’m willing to hold hope for you as long as you’re willing to work on holding hope for yourself. My specialty is encouraging and facilitating change. I work really hard to be a mirror for you to see yourself more clearly, and an arrow for you to find direction, so that you – the expert of yourself – can take a step forward towards health.
5. Tell us one random or fun fact about yourself
In 2012, I ran my first 5k and half-ironman in the same year. Also, my guilty pleasure is watching Big Brother.
Want to know more about Ryan? CLICK HERE to read his full bio, see more of his specialities, and to set up an appointment with him! He is able to offer an affordable rate of only $55 per 45-minute session. Give us a call at 303-902-3068 or contact us HERE with your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!