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 Welcome to the Website for

Susan Reuling Furness and The Write Path

Introduction Welcome! I created this professional web page to help you understand my work as a counselor, consultant, and as a group facilitator. You will find helpful details about my private practice and areas of specialization. I firmly believethat counseling and consulting work revolves around a relationship with the professional you hire. Finding a good fit for your personal or business needs is essential. Our offices, located in a home built in 1905, provide a relaxed, and private setting for you to work on your important life matters. My work with you is seen as a privilege and an honor.  Each day I am inspired by the courage of individuals and organizations who seek solutions to problems. At the same time, I am humbled by the trust placed in me as I work with the very personal concerns of individuals, families, and the business community. My four-fold practice embraces the specialties listed below. Please take time to explore these each of these links:            Individual Therapy                Marriage and Family Therapy Consultation for Organizations and Businesses_on Personnel Matters             Journal Writing and Poetry Therapy  -  Overview of The Write Path                            Professional Profile for Susan Reuling Furness

Jefferson Street Counseling and Consulting 1517 West Jefferson Street, Boise, Idaho 83702

Visit The Write Path website

For Directions to Our Center Click Here            

Biographic Information

Susan Reuling Furness is a Counselor and Consultant in Boise Idaho. She opened her private practice in1989 and has continued to serve the counseling needs in this community for sixteen years. Prior to entering the counseling field, Susan taught communication skills to parents and families as a facilitator for the Boise Schools’ Parent Education Program.

 A passionate teacher as well as counselor and writer, Susan has spent the past 17 years mentoring hundreds of students at Albertson College of Idaho and Boise State University. In addition, she teaches enrichment classes and seminars for many of Boise’s businesses and organizations. A frequent presenter at professional conferences, Susan understands that a counselor’s job is, first and foremost, that of an effective educator.

 Susan was raised in a small Illinois farming community. She cut her teeth on the Mid-western values of honesty and integrity. Her youth experiences included Girl Scouts, 4-H, school music and theater programs, church school and choir. From these roots, she has dedicated her life to helping others. Her passions include creative writing, outdoor photography, outdoor recreation, family and home. She is the mother of two grown children and numerous dogs, cats, birds, and gerbils. Susan is married to Timothy J. Furness, Click here for more infomation about Timothy J. Furness, LCPC, LMFT.

Susan Furness earned a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in counseling and development. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist,  a Certified Professional Mediator, and a Certified Poetry Therapist.  See Professional Profile for a list of LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS  A graduate of the University of Illinois and The College of Idaho, she is a member of the many professional state and national organizations. See Professional Profile  for a list of PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

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Individual Therapy

As a licensed professional counselor, I think of myself as a team player – a member of Your Team.  As a client, you and your concerns will always be treated with the utmost measure of confidentiality, dignity and respect. My job, as a precise and meticulous listener, is to help you find the inconsistencies and stuck-points in your story. As you trust me with the honest truth of your situation, we will team-up to find effective new thoughts and behaviors.In this way, we will find solutions which fit with your principles and values.

I work with men and women, teenagers, and children. My practice specialties include Depression and Anxiety, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Personal Relationships, and Business-Relationships, Grief and Loss, Parenting and Step-Parenting, Childhood Trauma,  Aging, Stress Management, and Self-Confidence. To make an appointment, contact us at 208-385-0888.

Marriage & Family Therapy

Susan Reuling Furness and her husband, Timothy J. Furness, provide a co-therapy approach to solution-focused marriage and family therapy. Meeting as a team with couples and families, Susan and Tim provide counseling that explores and resolves differences without gender bias.

Our work with couples and families focuses on improving communication, resolving specific concerns, and enhancing the strength of your family system. Tim and I appreciate the unique and sensitive nature of family conflicts and agreements. Our work with you is individualized to meet your personal situation and needs. To make an appointment, contact us at 385-0888.   Click here for more information about Timothy J. Furness and Co-Therapy for Couples and Families

Teambuilding and Conflict Resolution Services
Over the past decade and a half, Susan has served many Treasure Valley businesses and organizations. These include St. Lukes Regional Medical Center, Idaho Power,  Healthwise, Anser Charter School, Boise Public Schools, Nampa Public Library, Boise State University, Treasure Valley Community College, and Boise City. Susan served as Facilitator for the Mayor’s Task Force on Police and Youth Relationships in 1998.

As a Certified Professional Mediator, Susan serves to improve workplace communication and build harmonious, productive work teams. Susan and her partner, Tim Furness, frequently work as a team to resolve organizational conflict. Their consulting practice services, listed below, range from short in-services to week-long seminars.

• Teambuilding retreats and seminars
• Conflict resolution and mediation for management or employees
• Keynote presentations
• Staff retreats
• Supervisory consultation 

 
Teambuilding and conflict resolution work is always designed to meet the needs of the group or organization. To better understand the needs of your group, a no-cost preliminary meeting will be arranged. Please call us at 308-385-0888 or email to: jeffersoncounsel@cableone.net       

Journal Writing and Poetry Therapy- The Write Path

What is the Write Path?

Writing in a journal will relieve the pain and confusion for anyone who will pick up a pen or pencil. As a group leader, I watch pens scratch words of disillusionment, secrecy, and shame. Writing helps soothe these dark, dark feelings. Paper and pen carry the writer toward hope and creativity... I trust writing to the bottom of my toes.           -   Susan Reuling Furness, The Writing Group Book “Climbing Out of the Snake Pit.”

• Like medicine, journal writing improves mental and physical health.
• The Write Path offers encouragement for you to discover self-confidence, and uncover potential.
• Writing alone, but in a group, you will examine your past and present, and find helpful new directions.
• What you write will never be criticized.  No experience or expertise is required.

Click for more information about Susan’s PUBLICATIONS

Creative Writing as a Therapeutic Tool
The Write Path Journal Writing Classes are designed to enhance individual self-expression and growth, The Write Path invites you to write your way home.
 
Susan Reuling Furness is a Registered Poetry Therapist who weaves the art of personal writing with the art of healing. Susan founded The Write Path, journal writing groups for healing, personal growth, and creativity. You will also find Susan teaching principles of personal writing at Barnes and Noble Bookstore on Milwaukee Street in Boise and as part of the Vital Longevity Project in Boise. Working within the framework of the National Association of Poetry Therapy, the Write Path journal-writing circles help adults, children, and professionals discover confidence, mood management, and tools for optimistic living. As a group facilitator, Susan makes wellness and growth seem as simple as picking up a pencil or pen.

For more information about Write Path classes,

Visit The Write Path Newsletter      contact us at 208-385-0888 or email jefferoncounsel@cableone.net   Upcoming Class Schedule & Prices

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When I tell people that I specialize in poetry therapy, some say,
"Can you ever cure a poet?"
“Do people get better if you speak in iambic pentameter?”
“ I needed years of therapy after failing Poetry 101.”

In truth, poetry therapy is a certifiable expressive therapy.  You’ve heard of its granddaddy, Art Therapy. Perhaps you know the cousins, Music, Dance, and Drama Therapy.

 Poetry Therapy uses literature for healing and personal growth. Historically, the first Poetry Therapist on record was a Roman physician by the name of Soranus in the first century A.D., who prescribed tragedy for his manic patients and comedy for those who were depressed. It is not surprising that Apollo is the god of poetry, as well as medicine, since medicine and the arts were historically entwined. Also known as bibliotherapy (a term used more frequently in the 1960’s and 1970’s), this expressive group therapy opens the door to healing through the words of poets and writers.

Think of a poem as a condensed story. Because of its brevity, the poem contains heightened emotions and compressed meaning. In a poetry therapy group, the leader chooses exacting poems (and other written expression) to help group members explore a new attitude and a sense of hope.  Group members find new meaning for troublesome events. Group members build improved life stories. A journal writer will find his or her own creative voice in a safe environment. Even a simple list can become a poem. The group member speaks unspoken words, unheard feelings and thoughts. Writers find intuitive solutions. Written responses are voluntarily shared with the group, and they are never critiqued. Sharing helps the writers trust their voice and their unique way of seeing things. Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, says it well:

I work with people to write first thoughts – the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor – a place where
you are writing what your mind actually see and feel, not what it thinks it should see.

 Poetry therapy circles are not like school. The group leader never asks group members to find the “true meaning” of a poem. The focus stays with personal meaning. “Which words in this poem speak to you?” is a frequent question in an individual or group session. “What feelings do you experience when you hear these words?” Poetry Therapy invites a guided journey to integrate the past, present, and future. It opens the door to awareness and appreciation for the self and for life itself. Learn more about Poetry Therapy  
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Back to Jefferson Street Counseling & Consulting

Independent Providers of Counseling, Psychological & Organizational Services

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·         Counselor and Consultant – Private Practice, Boise, Idaho. (1989-present)

·         Freelance Writer – Independent contractor for articles and chapters. (1996-present)

·         Instructor – Albertson College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho. (1989-1995)

·         Instructor –  Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. (1993-present)

·         Contract Group Facilitator - Intermountain Hospital, Boise, Idaho. (1990-1993)

·         Intern - Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. (1988-1989)

·         M.Ed. Guidance and Counseling, The College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho. (1989)

·         B. S. Home Economics, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. (1968)

·         American Academy of Psychotherapists  (1994 – 2004)

·         American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists

·         American Counseling Association

·         National Association of Poetry Therapy

·         Idaho Counseling Association

·         Idaho Mental Health Counseling Association

·         Idaho Mediation Association

·         St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho – Affiliated Staff

·         Log Cabin Literary Center, Boise, Idaho

·         40 hours Mediation Training: Erickson Mediation Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (1994)

·         15 graduate credit hours in Communication, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. (1997 - 1998)

·         75 hours “Write from the Heart” with Joan Logghe, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. (1998 - 2004)

·         1100 Mentored and Supervised Hours to Certified Poetry Therapist Registration. (2003 - 2007)

·         Family Therapy Supervision with Carl Whittaker (phone supervision. (1991-1992)

·         Diagnosis and Statistical Manual IV training: Albertson College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho. (1994)

·         Additional Post Graduate Training in Psychiatric Medication

·         Attention Deficit Disorder Treatment

·         Solution-Oriented Therapy

·         Marriage & Family Therapy

·         Divorce Mediation and Negotiation

·         Brief Therapy

·         Ericksonian Hypnotherapy

·         Men and Women’s Issues

·         Counseling Victims of Sexual Abuse

·         Sexual Harrassment,

·         Grief Counseling

·         Victims of Sexual Abuse

·         Narrative Therapy

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

·         Idaho Licensed Professional Counselor, Coun – 287 (1989)

·         Idaho Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, LCPC – 71 (1996)

·         Idaho Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT – 33 (2002)

·         Idaho Certified Professional Mediator, CPM – 31 (1996)

·         Registered Poetry Therapist, PTR – National Federation for Biblio/PoetryTherapy (2007)

·         Chapter: “The Terrible, Awful P-Word,” in Manual for Hospital Workers.  Michele H. Pelling , Ed: Propell Group, Newberg OR. (publication TBA)

·         Chapter: “Climbing Out of the Snake Pit” in The Writing Group Book: Creating and Sustaining a Successful Writing Group. Lisa Rosenthal, Ed. Chicago Review Press: Chicago. (2003)

·         Article: “Grandma’s Recipe Stands Test of Time,” in Country Woman. (Nov/Dec 2003)

·         Humor Article: “How to Organize Your Desk,” in Focus, magazine of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association. (January 2003)

·         Memoir Contest Winner – Essay: “Picasso’s Boise,” in Boise Magazine. (Winter 2000)

·         Poetry Selections: In Newsletter. The American Academy of Psychotherapists. (2001 – present)

·         Poetry Selections: In Standing: Poetry of Idaho Women. (2000 - 2005)

·         Poetry: “Thin Skinned,” Springtime Writers, Online publication. (2002)

·         Article: "Secret Recipe," Dishrag Soup & Poverty Cake – An Idaho Potluck of Essays on Food, Idaho Humanities Council. (2006)

·         Poetry: “Courage,”Layers of Possibility Healing Poetry from The National Association of Poetry Therapy Members. Palabras Press,  Calgary, Alberta. (2007)