INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING
I am personally and professionally committed to providing clients with effective counseling and psychotherapeutic services which foster hope, growth, symptom improvement, and an increase in well-being. Once the individual allows me the privilege of entering into his or her life-space, I utilize more than 25-years of experience helping others, to build a safe and empowering therapeutic alliance in which the identification of specific clinical and life issues that need to be addressed occur.
I work with the client to form an individualized growth plan/treatment plan that will help guide the use of efficacious counseling and psychotherapeutic services. I utilize an integrative eclectic therapeutic approach that is client centered and evolves as needed over the course of the therapeutic relationship. For me, psychotherapy and counseling is not merely a vocation, but it is my passion because my life purpose is to help others grow into the best versions of themselves and in carrying out my life purpose mutual growth occurs.
COUPLES COUNSELING
When providing couples counseling, I not only work with the couple on establishing a safe and empowering therapeutic alliance in which we identify areas that need to be addressed, but we also develop rules of engagement to be used in the sessions and outside of the sessions.
Some relationship problems do not need couples counseling because the couple is able to work effectively together to overcome the problem. However, other couples need a competent counselor with nearly 20 years of experience providing couples counseling to humbly enter the sanctity of their life space to help them address communication problems, conflict resolution, a lack of connectivity, intimacy issues, betrayal, trust issues, blended family issues, financial struggles, transitions, illness, and the pain of growing apart.
In addition to mutually agreed upon growth plan goals, growth in the area of heart centered communication and we focused problem solving are also viewed as paramount for the couples growth. During the course of counseling we don’t just focus on what is not working but we also highlight what is working-- areas of strength to stand on as we explore and process what is broken, needs attention, and in some cases is “all jacked up.”
It brings me great joy to come alongside of couples for a season or two and witness their growth through the work they put into making their relationship flourish.
FAMILY COUNSELING
Family problems are created by various situations and circumstances and include chaos caused by constant arguments and conflict, parenting skills deficits, home and work life balance out of control, poor as well as dysfunctional communication problems, behavior and academic issues, financial issues, mental health issues, substance abuse, grief and loss, high levels of stress and distress, blended family issues, separation and divorce, as well as other systemic and structural issues.
The approach to family counseling is similar to that for couples counseling and individual counseling in that a safe and empowering therapeutic alliance with all family members engaged in the counseling process in which mutually agreed upon issues to focus on are identified and a growth plan is created.
Each family member has a voice in the process and rules of engagement are agreed upon and used in the session and outside of the session. I utilize an integrative eclectic therapeutic approach with special emphasis given to systemic and structural family issues which impede the growth of the family as a whole as well as the individuals in the family to varying degrees.
The ultimate goal of family therapy is for the family to flourish and to experience well being as a family.
Counseling from a Christian perspective with the Bible as a major source of reference is also available at GOCaC. As a Christian and ordained minister, I am humbled to be an agent of change used by God. A Christian counseling session is like a regular counseling session in many ways—a safe and empowering therapeutic alliance must be built; specific clinical and life issues need to be identified, and a growth plan/treatment plan will be developed to address the issues. However, in a Christian counseling session wisdom and truth from the Bible will be utilized along with prayer if agreed upon by the client.
CHRISTIAN COUNSELING