LMHC, 5 years of experience
Howdy! I'm Gabe! I'm an LMHC in Florida, an LCPC in Maryland, and a LMHC in Indiana. I graduated from UCF in 2021 and right away fell into working with high-need adults and adolescents & the families of adolescents in Florida. I have over 5 years of experience working with adolescents and adults with neurodiversity, mood dysregulation, conflict with family and friends, depression, anxiety, anger, and trauma. I don't "fix" people; I strive to help you learn the skills you need to build up your life the way you want it. As a disclaimer, I don't use AI in my practice, at all. I believe in privacy first and foremost.
Our first session is spent getting to know one another. It's important that you feel comfortable with and respected by your therapist. Then, I'll likely ask questions that help me better understand where you're at in your life right now, and where you want to be three months, six months, or even a year from now. Then we take those goals of yours and put them into actionable steps. For adolescent clients; I have the guardian(s) join in our first session for half the session. This is so that I can ask for their perception of their teenager's symptoms and go over treatment planning together. For every follow up session after, I will ask for the guardian to meet with me for around 5-15 minutes after the session; this is not to share what we went over in session but to keep track of client symptoms, offer support, and teach skills if needed.
I like to make therapy feel like a space you can share anything without judgement. I meet you where you're at in your life, wherever that may be, and work on teaching skills that help you move forward. I have found that clients who are unsure about therapy or are trying therapy for the first time tend to have a good experience with me.
I work most often with adults, and adolescents & their families, most of which have come from tough places or gone through hard experiences in their lives. I have found the best connections with people who appreciate an authentic approach and don't mind laughter. I find that clients who consider themselves neurodiverse (or wonder if they might be) also tend to find therapy with me enjoyable and helpful.
I use CBT to help clients explore the connections between what we feel, think, and do, so that clients can better understand themselves and navigate through their life challenges. CBT includes a wide range of interventions, but I tailor my interventions to each client's needs; no some clients prefer more skills-teaching and some clients prefer to talk it out. However you like to do therapy, I will use CBT as a way of challenging you to think outside your patterns!
Trauma-Focused CBT, (sometimes TF-CBT) is a form of CBT that's specific to trauma. I'm able to provide this to adolescents and adults. The beginning stages of TF-CBT involve learning about trauma, exploring emotions, thoughts, and actions, and developing skills to help cope. Later in TF-CBT, we create a trauma narrative to process and re-process trauma. The end goal is that symptoms begin to lessen, and you begin to take control of your life again. It's a tried and true modality that gives results, and I think one of the more 'fun' forms of therapy out there!
Not exactly in the market for years of therapy? Do you feel put off when therapy focuses on what's 'wrong' with you instead of all of you? Solution Focused Brief Treatment is a form of therapy that heavily emphasizes your individual strengths, and focuses on the solution, instead of the problem.