Welcome! My name is Evan Miller and I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and psychotherapist in the state of Pennsylvania. The goal of therapy is to facilitate personal growth and help you improve your life. I believe there is no one-size-fits all approach to therapy, so this can take many shapes and forms depending on your needs. Whether you're looking to build self-awareness, strengthen your relationships, change your unwanted habits, better manage your stress or just feel better emotionally - I am here to help! I consider the therapeutic relationship to be fundamental to all forms of good therapy, so I continually strive to create an environment that is supportive, safe, authentic, comfortable and non-judgmental. While I have specialized training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (M.I.) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD, I utilize a person-centered and integrative approach that also incorporates elements of attachment theory, existential-humanistic theory and harm reduction philosophy.
During our first session together, we will begin to fully understand the problems you're experiencing, your story, and what you're looking to gain out of therapy. You should leave with a better sense of my therapeutic style, approach and whether we'll be a good fit together. Moving forward, we will collaboratively identify goals that align with your aspirations and establish a plan to work towards them. Our primary aim will be to help you gain tools so that you can build a more rich and meaningful life.
Clients have told me that I'm easy to talk to and help them to feel comfortable exploring whatever topics are on their mind. I believe I offer a balance of compassionate and non-judgmental listening with direct communication. I aim to create an open-dialogue across sessions to encourage genuine feedback, so that we can jointly figure out what may or may not be working for you in therapy. My approach is flexible, versatile and individually-tailored to the needs of each of my clients.
I have found ACT to be extremely effective and beneficial throughout my work as a therapist and in my personal life. ACT helps us to focus on the things that truly matter to us at our core, so that we're dedicating less time and energy to the things in our lives that are out of our control or extraneous. We'll use ACT to help you build a more rich and meaningful life in alignment with your goals and values.
I have extensive training in, and experience using, CBT in my practice for a variety of problems and presenting diagnoses. CBT will help us to develop personalized coping skills, reshape your negative thought patterns, work towards your goals and uncover larger belief systems and unhelpful behaviors. Due to CBT's robust evidence-base, we can use CBT in a more structured or flexible capacity, depending on your preferences. In better understanding the connections between your thoughts, beliefs, feelings and behaviors, we will have the ability to make tangible changes in your life where it matters most and help you to feel better.
On an ongoing basis, we'll try to build a deeper understanding of the way your past experiences are impacting you in the present. We will work together to uncover the intricate patterns within your past relationships with family members, partners and close friends. Through this, you'll be able to understand yourself more fully and live in a way that's more in alignment with your authentic self.
I use an individually-tailored and flexible approach with all of my clients, as I believe there is no one-size-fits all to therapy. In each session, I try my best to create a space that is non-judgemental, empathetic, curious and genuine. I believe it is my job as a therapist to check my own biases, pre-conceived notions and assumptions at the door, so that you can be seen and heard as a unique human being.
ERP is the gold-standard treatment for OCD and I have witnessed it transform the lives of clients who have been suffering without relief for many years.