Community Newspaper for Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo, Washington

Come talk to me, counselor says

By Soren Velice

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could go through life without having to fight with each other to get what you want and without having to struggle for understanding?”

This is one of the first questions families hear when they seek help from Deanna Rahm, a private-practice counselor who recently opened for business in Blaine. “What I do best is help families and individuals learn how they communicate and help them change if it doesn’t work,” she said.

Rahm came to Blaine on a long road of experience that started in Oklahoma, where a state law passed in 1994 mandated a first-offender counseling program to prevent troubled youths from making repeat visits into the state’s courts. Rahm helped develop it. “We, the counselors working on the program, decided if referrals were coming from courts, the Juvenile Services Units and police departments, we could encourage them to send parents in with the child for counseling,” she said.

The 12 hours of counseling were divided into six weekly sessions of what Rahm calls psycho-educational counseling. “Instead of one-to-one counseling, we had groups of six to eight,” she said. “We taught why people behave the way they do and taught new ways of approaching problems at home; basically we taught them not only about feelings and behavior, but basic life skills most of us take for granted like communication. Many teenagers act out of anger not knowing how to communicate what they want.”

For teenagers thinking about leaving home, Rahm would give them a reality check of what that would mean – rent, utilities, groceries and so forth. She said she also conducted growth groups to help people make life changes, worked in a psychiatric hospital, conducted teen pregnancy counseling and was a school crisis counselor.

Rahm said here in Blaine, she is interested in creating a women’s group and working with the Blaine family sercice center (FSC) on a teen pregnancy program in addition to her private practice. “Anyone that can bring talent and energy to a solution is certainly welcome here,” said Leaf Schumann FSC coordinator. “If she were to form a group, we would make the center available.”

Rahm’s practice deals with relationships, family, self-improvement, depression, grief, anger management and communication; she said she is excited to help people in Blaine over whatever hurdles they may face. “I love helping people,” she said, “and I just like to think that everyone can hopefully find a better way out of what’s troubling them.” To talk to Rahm about her services, call 224-6308 or send an e-mail to rdstub@home.com.