David Low, MS PhD DTh, Spiritual Counseling, Philadelphia, No Insurance
About
Greetings and thank you for your interest! if we work together, I will never lose patience with you, or stop believing in your inherent ability to bring about positive change in your life. Without getting into a big thing philosophically, basically I think we all have infinite potential.
Of the three services I offer, spirituality is the biggest in terms of interest, experience and formal qualifications. Five decades worth of studying traditions, doing practices, going down blind alleys, having transformative experiences, going to India and other places, and learning from many great teachers have given my a lot of perspective on a huge range spiritual issues. Dreamwork is a specialty. I am not the same person I was 30 years, 20, 10, 5 years ago, or even 1 month ago! (Problems begin when you think you have all the answers.) When it comes to spirituality, at this point I think there are very few people out there that I would not be able to help if they had questions. (The highest-caliber teachers are still helping me.)
For relationships--because of my strong 32-year marriage and my training--I I understand what often causes them to gradually or (can seem to) suddenly deteriorate. I can help with couples who both realize that there's a problem, or with individuals wanting to make any relationship better with someone who doesn't think that they are contributing to the problem. (And there are many kinds of couples: marriages, engagements, special or ordinary friends, acquaintances, business, parent-young adult... (any one of whom might be straight, gay, lesbian, bi, trans etc. It doesn't really matter; the psycho-mechanics are the same.) It may be very, very subtle with nuances and whatnot, but all relationships are power struggles, even in love! That's okay, it's part of human condition! The key is AWARENESS, in the process of relating to someone, of what your mind is doing and why. With me You'll get systematic help, and homework, whether alone or with someone else. I don't work with children or minors, and don't want more than two people in a session at the same time--for that, you need someone trained in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT qualified).
In my third area (therapy), I can help only if you have issues relating to Addictions, PTSD and sleep issues, General Life issues (Eldering ),and perhaps general anxiety. If you've been diagnosed with something like ADHD, major or clinical depression, bipolar, panic or social anxiety disorder, etc., you're better off with someone who has more training in those areas (look for the PsyD credential). Again, I don't work with children or minors. I also cannot evaluate you for medical or legal purposes.
Whatever you need help with, I'M A BIG BELIEVER IN JOURNAL-WRITING, whether with a spiral notebook or electronically. Someone who keeps a journal is serious about change. So, if you go with me, I'll be gently insisting on that.
With respect and appreciation.... DBL
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
I get to know them in informal conversation before moving onto a basic structure and format for assessing the client's issues. This always includes assessing the client's goals, and the question, "What is the single most important thing that I can help you with right now?" Quite often we do a basic meditation or relaxation technique (we do it in the session), and at least one concrete homework assignment to be sure something gets done. At the end I get them to talk about how the session went for them and what parts of it they thought were or were not helpful.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
70 years worth of life in June of this year ('24), so I guess I qualify as an elder.!Plus a strong 30-year marriage, so I'm good with couples even thought that is not my specialty. Otherwise, specifically, about 10 years counseling, 10 years college teaching and more counseling, and about 10 years academic training, and about 10 years full-time spiritual seeking and wandering when I could afford it. I wrote a spirituality textbook that I use for clients interested in that aspect of my work.
PhD--Religion--lots of counseling in the classroom setting, believe me!! Students often want to know how to handle their religious parents.
DTh--Doctor of Theology and ordained Interfaith Minister
MS--Community Counseling; internship in substance abuse (and 7 years experence in that field later). Lots of anthropology in this curriculum, so good with indigenous / multicultural issues.
Certified 5-Star Dream Analysis method; practiced in Archetypal / Projective and a bit of Natural Dreamwork methods.
40 years yoga/meditation; have taught meditation, religion courses (Buddhist Ethics, etc.) around Philadelphia for 20 + years.
Recent course/certification in basic CBT
A spiritual pedigree too detailed to go into; see the ABOUT ME section in my website, davidlowmsphd.com
Do you have a standard pricing system for your services? If so, please share the details here.
First sessions discounted to $40 as an incentive, $60/hour after that. If you can't afford that after a while, we'll talk about it. I hate to turn people away who really need the help.
I can relate to wanting to "check out" a counselor by having a conversation with him or her, before committing to a whole session. On the other hand, the client usually wants to describe everything hoping that he'll get what he needs without a session, which I also understand, but which isn't fair to the counselor. A happy medium on that is ONLY $40 for an initial one-hour session.
How did you get started in this business?
Substance abuse internship in 1985 for my Masters degree.
What types of customers have you worked with?
All kinds, over the years... lots of minorites and hispanics in substance abuse experience, couples, college students from teaching days.... Most of my clients now tend to be people in their 30s thru 60s, dealing with anxiety, etc., AND deeper philosophical issues (again, often without realizing it).
Describe a recent event you are fond of.
The other day, a client really understood how her dream was telling her to accept her daugher's choice of husband, and her own strained relationship with this son-in-law, as her KARMA, and not as HER FAULT. She came to tears realizing it was simply what life had in store for her, and not something that she caused or contributed to. Another recently cried for a half-hour as a result of understandings connected with doing his first meditation--on his own!--after I taught him the technique. Also, I'd have to say that, in general, it's great to see two people rediscover how they really do love and respect each other, once you get them communicating again!
Plus, I've seen lots of CBT situations, etc., when I did that ( which I don' any more) which are less dramatic but just as meaningful to clients.
What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a pro in your area of expertise?
Be sure the person is older, has a lot of spiritually-oriented life experience, is really easygoing to talk to, and never makes you feel stupid or anxious. There's nothing worse than someone who is too formal and who just give you short answers to questions which are really important to you. If your issues involve relationships, divorce, that sort of thing, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go with someone who has a strong, decades-long marriage of his or her own.
What questions should customers think through before talking to pros about their needs?
I would make a list of major issues, and then break each of them down in as much detail as you can. If dreams are involved, write them out and offer to send them to the therapist ahead of time (if he or she does dreamwork). More generally, I would take the time to think through anything in your life that you have major difficulty with, even if it doesn't seem to be related to your problem situation. It probably does!!