General Info:
Most importantly, I like to offer the possibility and empower my clients to come up with options inside of their treatment. One of the many reasons why I believe that psychotherapy has been ineffective for some people is that there are many professionals that believe they are the "expert" in their client's lives. There is no book chapter that I refer my client's to that will "change your life." I often take the approach that your life is best represented like a large home. At best, a therapist can look into a window or two of that home and still not know exactly what is going on. In addition, generally when therapists give "advice" it is usually not taken through what we call psychological reactance -or the desire for most people to want to reassert their own autonomy-. I believe my job as a clinician is to educate the client, give them options, and let them choose and assist in developing a targeted, tailored, treatment plan that you are more likely going to follow since we have already consulted an expert (The Client). That's one of the reasons why in addition to offering individual psychotherapy, we are currently attempting towards starting our first group psychotherapy program. I believe that your provider should also have experiences to back up their education. That's why I am proud to say that I was enlisted in the United States Navy -traveling the world-, worked in a residential treatment facility with serious juvenile offenders, had my almost two years internship experience at the Rocky Hill's veterans home immediate care facility, was the lead clinician in a major corporation's mandated outpatient therapy program, worked with at-risk inpatient children in Yale Universities' Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service (IICAPS), and most recently -just for the experience- working at a local hospital's acute psychiatric inpatient ward. I also believe your therapist should continue to read about their profession long after graduate school. A little known secret is that in our state, a clinician that holds an LPC only has to do a nominal number of continuing education credits each year. This roughly amounts to just a couple of seminars or online lectures with little internalization or practice. Shouldn't your therapist be just as open to self-development as you are? That takes being humbled through life's experiences to have the mindset that "I can always do better." When it comes to childhood experiences I also spent roughly 15 years as a martial artist and instructor and 10 years working with my mother growing up at her consignment store. I also worked for the Transportation Security Administration, and like to consider myself a jack of all trades when it comes to my many abilities and hobbies (carpentry, electrical, computers, etc.). Some people have really bad experiences with their first encounter with a mental health service professional. If this is the case ask yourself what type of professional that person was (psychologist, social worker, etc.), what modality they practiced (e.g. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), and if they were only a "career student" for their life experiences. How can a therapist relate to you if they have no point of reference to do it from?! Please check out our new YouTube video for more information on these differences and our website for more info on me and my practice!