--- title: "The Approach | James Revels Counseling" description: "Guided awareness, the Five Practices of Presence, and an integrative method chosen for you rather than applied by default." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/#james-revels", "name": "James Carl Revels", "honorificSuffix": "MA, LCMHC", "jobTitle": "Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor", "url": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com", "hasCredential": { "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential", "credentialCategory": "MA, LCMHC" } }, { "@type": "ProfessionalService", "@id": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/#practice", "name": "James Revels Counseling", "url": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com", "priceRange": "$180", "areaServed": { "@type": "State", "name": "North Carolina" }, "provider": { "@id": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/#james-revels" }, "availableService": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Individual Counseling" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/the-approach", "url": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/the-approach", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://jamesrevelscounseling.com/#practice" } } ] } --- [Skip to content](#main) [![James Revels Counseling](/assets/logo-BqKAU4X8.png)](/) [Meet James](/meet-james)[The Approach](/the-approach)[Who I Help](/who-i-help)[Rates](/rates)[Contact](/contact)[Book a free consult](https://care.headway.co/providers/james-revels) The Approach # We begin in stillness. Most sessions open with a guided awareness exercise. Not because it is fashionable, but because almost everything useful in this work starts with being able to notice what is actually happening in you. What a Session Looks Like ## What an hour with me is actually like. 1. We settle A short guided practice, usually five to ten minutes. You are learning to watch your own thinking rather than be carried off by it. Over time this becomes a skill you own. 2. We look at what is here Thought, feeling, and what the body is doing about both. I will often ask you to notice where something lands physically before we talk about what it means. 3. We work From there it depends on you. Sometimes that is cognitive and practical. Sometimes it is older material that needs a slower hand. Sometimes it is a straight existential conversation about what your life is for. ![Gentle ripples spreading across the surface of a still pond](/__l5e/assets-v1/b18e0b5d-daec-4e12-8a46-4cb33670d40d/practice-meditation.jpg) The Five Practices of Presence ## Capacities, not a curriculum. Five practices I have spent fifty years learning and thirty teaching. You do not complete them. You build them, and then they are yours. - Meditation Learning to sit with what is here without immediately needing to change it. Most people find this uncomfortable for about three weeks and indispensable after that. - Mindfulness Attention you can carry out of the room, into a meeting, a marriage, a hard Tuesday morning. Meditation is the gym; mindfulness is the sport. - Dialogue Real conversation, which is rarer than it sounds. The kind where both people are actually willing to be changed by what is said. - Inquiry Asking the question underneath the question, then staying long enough to hear the answer. This is where most of the meaning work happens. - Creativity The part of you that makes things is the same part that mends. Writing, music, building, painting: we put it to work rather than treating it as a hobby you have no time for. ![Gentle ripples spreading across the surface of a still pond](/__l5e/assets-v1/b18e0b5d-daec-4e12-8a46-4cb33670d40d/practice-meditation.jpg) ![A dew-covered fern frond in close focus against soft green shade](/__l5e/assets-v1/669a841b-bf96-4e93-a6ea-50b3ec8a7007/practice-mindfulness.jpg) How I Choose Method ## Trained in a lot. Careful about what I use. I am trained in cognitive behavioral work, psychodynamic work, somatic approaches, mindfulness-based therapy and the humanistic and existential traditions. That range is only useful if it is applied with restraint. What that means in practice: I do not run you through a protocol. I pay attention to what you respond to and use the approach that fits, and I will tell you plainly when I think something is worth trying and when I think it is not. A Note on Fit ## Who this does not suit. This work asks you to become interested in your own inner life. If you are looking for advice, a technique to apply on Tuesday, or someone to agree with you, there are better uses of your money and my time, and I will say so early rather than late. I also do not treat addictions or eating disorders. If that is the presenting concern, I will refer you to someone who specializes in it. ## When you are ready, I am here. A free, confidential 15 to 20 minute conversation. No pressure and no paperwork, just a chance to hear each other out. [Book a free consult](https://care.headway.co/providers/james-revels)[Send a message](/contact) ![James Revels Counseling](/assets/logo-BqKAU4X8.png) Telehealth counseling for adults across North Carolina. Meaning, anxiety, grief and the mid-life turn. James Carl Revels, MA, LCMHC · NC #2426 Practice - [Meet James](/meet-james) - [The Approach](/the-approach) - [Who I Help](/who-i-help) - [Rates & Insurance](/rates) - [Contact](/contact) Focus Areas - Meaning & Purpose - Anxiety & Burnout - Grief & Loss - Life Transitions Serving - North Carolina - Statewide Telehealth In a crisis? Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or call 911. Veterans can press 1 after dialing 988. Contacting this practice does not establish a client relationship. Individual outcomes vary. Nothing on this site guarantees a specific clinical result. © 2026 James Revels Counseling. All rights reserved. · Privacy Policy · Accessibility · Notice of Privacy Practices (available upon request) · Good Faith Estimate · Website by Automaus.ai