Hi, I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC), Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (LCAS), Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS). I have a PhD in Human Services, with a concentration in Disaster, Crisis, and Intervention. I have over 20 years of experience in mental health and substance abuse counseling. I have been working as a licensed private practitioner since 2001.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
I would like to assure you that my services will be rendered in a professional manner, consistent with accepted ethical standards of this noble profession. My counseling approach will help clients attain self-realization, set and accomplish goals, and elicit self-efficacy. I look forward to working with you.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I believe in integrated medical, mental health and substance use disorders treatment. Most of my counseling approach is based on Motivational Enhancement Techniques (MET), Client Centered, Cognitive Behavioral and Solution Focused theories. I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques to help individuals who are dealing with traumatic experiences. I also have years of experience providing recovery skills training for individuals dealing with substance use disorders. I Provide therapy based on Neuroscience, Cognitive, and Positive psychology.
About DR. AGYENIM AKUAMOAH-BOATENG, PhD A.K.A. "Dr. Boat"
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I would first, introduce you to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The basic concept of CBT is that situations or what we call activating events, do not necessarily cause feelings/emotions/upset people, but rather it's the meaning (thought) that's given to the situations (activating events). CBT will help you recognize these thought patterns and teach you how to step away from your automatic negative thoughts and dispute with them and come up with rational beliefs to help you take full responsibility for their feelings. By taking full responsibility for your feelings, you may be able to change your Negative Feelings (NF) to Negative Functional Feelings (NFF) and respond to situations assertively and appropriately.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
We will then transition to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you effectively handle painful, unpleasant memories and suppressed thoughts and create a rich and vital life effectively. ACT is an action-oriented, with mindfulness approach to psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). ACT will help you learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with your inner emotions (Experiential Avoidance) and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent you from moving forward, enjoy your relationships and life in general. ACT emphasizes the importance of accepting unwanted thoughts and emotions and acting towards living a meaningful life according to personal values.
Motivational Interviewing
I believe in motivational enhancement approach and try to focus on helping my clients to resolve ambivalence, realize their strengths and potentials and use their own personal values to elicit self-efficacy.