About myself and my practice:

Ralph A Porter, MS, LPC, LCDC, NCC

Everyone has a healthy relationship with themselves and the people around them. Sometimes we get in our way.

Hi, my name is Ralph Porter. My wife and I live in beautiful Boerne, Texas. My counseling approach is grounded in Gestalt therapy, which I have formal training in.

Gestalt therapy is one of the best ways to deepen one's experience of self and become more aware of how one experiences the world in the present moment. This awareness allows us to make choices and create something in our lives that we never thought possible.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, and a National Certified Counselor.

As a Gestalt therapist, it is not my goal to change you!

My goal is to

Help my clients take responsibility not only for their actions but also for their emotions.

I will help you accept the emotions that you want to escape.

I will assist you in accepting and navigating your emotions instead of just “coping” with them. You will not need to “cope” because you will learn to reflect on your feelings and identify your needs and priorities.

I encourage you to become more aware of yourself, stay present, and process things in the present moment.

When we stay focused on the past or the future, we miss what is happening now. Therefore, we ignore what we are experiencing now and the crucial information we are not prioritizing, which can relieve our struggles.

You will learn “self-regulation,” where you can develop personal resources to navigate your emotions and needs.

Through therapy, people learn to uncover feelings that may have been “numbed” or masked by other feelings and to accept and trust their emotions. When we struggle to accept our feelings, we can’t reflect on them, missing the opportunity to recognize what we need to feel better. Many people stay “stuck” or “fixated” on something.

During Gestalt Therapy, you will learn about yourself, even certain aspects of yourself that you might unconsciously “reject,” which causes difficulty in functioning in some situations.

By learning about them, you can finally take control and make different choices to help you be your best self.