AIDA Therapy: Making Space
Rob Williams of AIDA Therapy knows people need their space and has made it his mission to help them find it
All too often we can find ourselves feeling trapped. The buildup of day-to-day stress affects our mood, disposition, and behavior — a metaphorical wall closing in. It’s important to carve out a space to reflect on those feelings and emotions. Rob Williams of AIDA Therapy believes that space exists between two people at a shared and sacred place.
The Japanese Kanji character Aida means “the space between.” Williams seeks to explore the space between two people, namely the therapist and the client, and where they can exist together. With a mutual understanding, both parties can come together to share their own unique experiences and insight to contribute to a new understanding that can lead to a sense of peace in one’s life. “I’m there for my clients,” Williams says. “As an objective third party, I only want to be helpful.”
Williams started AIDA in 2006 to satisfy his passion for helping. Previously, he was director of quality for a chemical engineering company. “I worked with a lot of groups within my company to help them succeed,” he says. However, he was missing the people element in his work. “What I was doing was very quantitative,” he says. Realizing he needed a change, he went back to school to get a Master’s in Social Work, and opened AIDA to practice psychotherapy.
Now, he and five other therapists call AIDA home. Williams has been a part of the D.C. LGBT community since 1996, where he’s volunteered a portion of his time to the Whitman-Walker Health Center. While AIDA serves the DC community at large, Williams specializes in LGBT issues, depression and anxiety. For him, it’s all about the relationship: “The fit between the therapist and the client is the most important thing.”
Learn more about AIDA Therapy by calling 202-455-5546. Or visit aida-therapy.com. They are located at 1801 Connecticut Avenue NW, 3rd Floor in Washington, D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood.
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