Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Squire.
Hi Ron, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey really begins in 2004. At the age of 19 I suffered a hiking accident while living in Mexico that left me temporarily paralyzed. I had broken my back, a few ribs, and my leg. After close to 30 hours of surgery, the spinal cord injury I had experienced left me not able to move or feel anything from the waist down for 2 months. On the morning of my 20th birthday I miraculously was able to barely wiggle my big toe. While it wasn’t much, it was the spark I needed to light the fire of determination needed to learn to walk again. About 4 1/2 years later, after thousands of hours of rehab, pain endured, tears shed, and both small and big miracles experienced, I was able to get to the point of walking again with the use of a single cane.
Over 20 years later, I still walk with a single cane, am happily married with 4 children and am living a deeply meaningful and fulfilling life. Part of what gives my life meaning is my career. I currently own and operate a private psychotherapy practice in Provo UT. Previous to my accident I didn’t really know much of psychology let alone intend to become a therapist. It was through the pain and recovery from my accident that I was inspired to not just get through my own challenges, but to learn principles of healing and resilience along the way, by observing what worked for me personally as well as by studying the great minds and writings of philosophy and psychology, to then turn around and help those going through their own type of pain. I have been working in mental health for almost 20 years now and continue to find ways to hone my craft.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No pathway in painless. As Nietzsche says, “There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them”. Learning to walk again while also gaining the education and training I needed was no easy task but I had to practice deliberately framing these obstacles or “rocks” as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks. The obstacles I experienced gifted me just that: experience. I chalked up any challenges I faced as assets I can use to better empathize with those I would eventually work with as a professional.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a psychotherapist I am not only focused on what will help this person or couple in front of me heal, move forward, and to not be defined by what happened to them but also to look at what they can become not despite what they have gone through but BECAUSE of what they have gone through. A few unique qualities to me specifically that make me an effective therapist are firstly, my own experiences in life in learning to walk again. While it is not necessary to have gone through the exact situation someone else has to help them, it does bring a certain validity to what you are talking about – especially if you have overcome your challenge(s), and are living a healthy stable and fulfilling life as I am. I fully am aware that I can’t say “I know what you’re going through” because I am not you. However, while the experiences are different, the emotions that come from a difficult event or stage in life such as hopelessness, helplessness, depression, anxiety, trauma symptoms, etc. I have felt those and it is from that place, I meet my clients and begin the work of connection and healing. A second characteristic of my approach that is unique is the use of philosophy in my counseling. While the present day academic and scientific community are discovering more about WHAT is going on in life, inside our minds/bodies, environment, etc. – the question of HOW to live a good life has been talked of, written about, and thought through for thousands of years. I believe in order to move forwards, you need to look backwards; to look backwards for ancient wisdom on how to turn our pain, grief, lack of control, and suffering into something productive, meaningful, and good.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They can reach out to me at squirecounseling@gmail.com, or my instagram pages @squirecounseling or @ron.g.squire. I also have a youtube page where I occasionally post vlogs/thoughts called On Meaning with Ron Squire.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://squirecounseling.com
- Instagram: @ron.g.squire or @squire.counseling
