When I decided to set up my own private practice I didn’t just want to name it after me, but to have a name that summed up what counselling is about for me. My first thought was of how important hope is. I thought of my last name, White, the colour white, then of a dove and of how symbolic a dove is for hope and peace. But a dove can be seen as religious, and I didn’t want to put anyone off that wasn’t religious.
With dove still in my head I recalled reading in a counselling theory book about ‘dovetailing good self-care and coping strategies into our lives’. A dovetail joint is a carpentry technique for joining sides of furniture together. From the joint the saying to dovetail has come to mean joining one thing with another, so they fit together neatly
My dovetail joint tissue holder
One of my main aims with counselling is to help you to learn good self-care and healthy coping strategies to enable you to process the issues from your past or present. But also prepare you for whatever live throws at you in the future.
There are also many stresses and issues in our past or present that can put a strain on our relationships. I also thought that with couples counselling the aim is to help you to learn the skills to work through those difficulties, to glue your relationship solidly back together, just like a dovetail joint. In carpentry the dovetail joint requires practice, just like our relationships.
So Dovetail Counselling Service was born, and I hope you can see the relevance.