Seeking Truth: Erin Diedling

By: Diana Hinojosa

“What makes you happy?” According to Erin Diedling, this is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding questions that her clients have faced in their path to recovery. Erin believes that the best way to handle difficult times with her clients is to provide them with gentleness and to identify their true moments of happiness.

She says, “I will always try to acknowledge when they’re happy, but you have to take the time for it, and I want happiness for all of my clients.”

Erin realized she wanted to become a part of this helping profession ever since she was fourteen. After borrowing books from her own therapist and having a friend advise her to become a part of a field that would allow her to think for herself, Erin knew she was on the right path. 

Her interest in the mystical parts of psychology have encouraged her to ask herself questions as to why people act the way they do, and it has encouraged her to explore the different paths of people in their journey to recovery. 

She says, “I think somatic experiences bring it all together,” Somatic experiences in therapy allows the clients to really feel and channel their thoughts and emotions. This could be very powerful, but the client needs to be comfortable enough to allow him or herself to have those feelings. 

After volunteering for some time at Chicago’s Women Health Center, Erin was able to use her trauma training experience to assist clients with eating disorders at The Awakening Center.

She says, “I realize how lucky I am to be here. It is such a supportive group, ethically, legally, and educationally, it’s like a think tank and a family at the same time. It is quiet, and no one asks for credit, but the unifying theme with my colleagues and the honor of being of being part of this team is the high caliber of talent.”

More than anything, Erin appreciates that at The Awakening Center, the goal is to treat the person with the mission to heal and she feels lucky to be a part of a team that approaches their work with sacredness.

“There is a commitment to positive change,” she says, “Everyone here is on their path, their inquiry, driven by curiosity. We have people that want to seek truth, and that makes this a special place. Everyone on the team is on a path to greater peace, self-awareness.”