Meet Mary Delaney of Creative Core Counseling in Decatur

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Delaney.

Mary, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m so fortunate to have a career in sync with one of my greatest values – connecting to others. I work with individuals from all walks of life, helping them to discover and uncover the deepest, most unexplored parts of their emotional galaxy. Tuning in to our own emotions can seem like a radical notion. Staying disconnected, gliding on auto-pilot, remaining numb can seem like the path of least resistance but it eventually has inescapable serious consequences. Waking up takes real courage. I guess I’m in the “waking up business.”

Career-wise I’ve had a few detours along the way but always seem to end up at the same intersection – somewhere between helping others and being wildly creative. Rather than forcing myself to choose a solitary path, I accept my own dimension and allow myself to wear a coat of many colors. Though I spend most of my daylight hours as a practicing licensed psychotherapist and coach I derive great joy from my creative pursuits. Having first-hand experience of the healing and mindful properties of right-brained pursuits I strongly encourage my clients to pursue their own creativity (after all, science tells us being in the state of flow deactivates the portion of our brain responsible for stress and self-doubt). Besides, if Benjamin Franklin limited himself to doing “just one thing” we may not have bifocals, or batteries, or catheters today.

My point is that we may have a tendency to limit ourselves unnecessarily. Why not live broadly? After all, life is not a dress rehearsal. Time is our most precious, non-renewable resource. When it’s gone it’s gone? Three semi-obnoxious ticking clocks hang in my therapy studio to remind me of the fleeting nature of seconds, minutes, and hours. Nothing can be done to stop the hands of time. So, I try to tune in and do my best to help others find a way to do the same.

Has it been a smooth road?
My biggest obstacle has been myself. Years of self-doubt led me down dusty roads and far away from my truest self. Being a creative-type can be confusing and may demand validation that the world just doesn’t know how to offer. Over the last several years, with the help of some pretty amazing teachers, I found the extra push to pivot. To lean in with that head down focus that anything worth doing requires. I have read hundreds, thousands of books, written miles of words, scribbled lyrics, stories, and dug in and faced my own vulnerabilities, my own darkness and suffocating shame to finally discover that I am actually pretty awesome after all.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Creative Core Counseling – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Most of my clients are seeking the strength to embrace their authenticity. Pretending is gut-wrenching. I can’t say what “sets me apart” but I can say that I work diligently to show up every day in my utter humanness. I can also say that I know how empty life can feel. How lonely. How confusing. I hope that my own life experience translates into a greater capacity for compassion. One of my therapeutic tenets is “always lead with compassion.” So far, that hasn’t failed. I also love using creativity to identify and process those emotions that traditional “talk therapy” cannot quite reach. Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow.” I think he was right.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the medley of neighborhoods in Atlanta – each with a distinct character. I love the architectural integrity of those 1920’s Inman Park homes, the modern “Mayberry” charm of downtown Decatur, and the walkability of Virginia-Highlands. I love the food scene in Atlanta. Although I only really indulge the urge to splurge on special occasions, it’s heartening to know that I could find absolutely any flavor that my tongue desires. I love the Beltline, the Living Walls project, a serious biscuit, the Atlanta Pride Parade, and the opportunity to be exactly who we are whoever we may be. I also really love Atlanta’s spiritual center. We aren’t afraid to worship in whatever way we choose. We’re not “too cool” to pray, or worship, or kneel on a pew or hang a Mezuzah on the doorpost. I dig that.

I don’t like the uber-dangerous reversible lanes on Dekalb Avenue (please somebody do something!). I don’t love the pollen explosion every Spring. I don’t love the brevity of autumn (too many jackets too little Fall). And I am supremely irritated by drivers who insist on texting in traffic. Come on Atlanta! They ticket for that kind of thing California.

Pricing:

• Psychotherapy $120 per hour
• Coaching $295 for three, one-hour sessions

Contact Info:

• Website: www.creativecorecounseling.com
• Phone: 404-906-0212
• Email: creativecorecounseling@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delaney2637/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/creative-core-counseling-decatur
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCryQtTPpV_l98gW_9TIKOHQ

Image Credit:
Photos by Allie Royce Soble and Bruce Bennett

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