Hi! I’m Lani Long and I want to share my story with you about how the offices of Deep Canyon Counseling came to be. It’s a personal story about life events, career choices and personal growth. I’m only going to hit the high points, or maybe I should call them turning points, because most of the day to day stuff is like that. There are, however, events that occur that may change the course of everything. These events are sometimes referred to as “life transitions.” The interesting thing about a life transition event is that it is like opening a door you’ve never gone through before. It raises two opposing emotions or feelings, perhaps nervous curiosity, trepidation versus excitement or anxiety versus adrenal rush. The thing that is most interesting to me is it is an area that I truly enjoy working on with clients.
The question now is, how does all this connect with Deep Canyon Counseling? It has much to do with a major life event that happened in my late forties. I had just retired from my second career. While deciding what to do next, I was taking some time to head home and visit friends I hadn’t seen in years. I arrived home just in time to go with my mom and my step-dad for her appointment with a cardiologist. I soon realized that I had arrived home to spend the last two years of Mom’s life with her. I remain forever grateful for having that time with her. We had lots of time to talk about things we hadn’t talked about in years, time to heal old wounds and forgive each other. I stayed several more months to take care of all the details and make sure my step-dad would be well-taken care of.
My mother was far from perfect, but she was also a very strong, loving and compassionate woman. We had lots of “little” and “big” traumas through the years, but I never once doubted her overwhelming love for me. After the shock of Mom’s death wore off and I had moved to the desert (the place I always thought I would retire to), I found myself falling relentlessly into a deep depression. I felt so alone in the world. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to go out, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I finally realized I needed to get help. I’d gone to therapy after my dad and brother were killed in a car crash and again, at the end of a failed relationship, and so I began four years of in-depth therapy. It changed my life.
I went back to school for my second Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling. I made new friends and had some awesome professors. Diana Herrington, MFT was one of them and we kept in touch as I completed my degree. I did my internship with her and was about to take the exams for licensure. We had coffee one day and talked about a dream that we both had about opening an office that felt like home—pleasant, warm, comfortable and safe. I proposed buying the house on Deep Canyon Rd. and converting it, with her help in getting the practice off the ground. She agreed and we opened Associated Psychotherapy Center with three other great MFT’s in February of 1999. A few years ago, Diana moved her practice to Boardwalk Ave. in Palm Desert, retaining the name, and our office became Deep Canyon Counseling.
I and my fellow therapists have since, set out to create a counseling center focused on serving the community and giving back those things which we have been so blessed with—love, strength, peace, hope, health, and well-being. I hope you come visit us when you’re in need and find the compassion, edification, and relief that I found through engaging in therapy.

--Lani


A Brief History of
Deep Canyon Counseling
Deep Canyon Counseling