LMHC, 35 years of experience
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor in Indiana. I have spent most of my career as an addictions counselor and took on mental health while I worked in the criminal justice system. I work with adults struggling with substances, relationships, self esteem and other forms of issues that cause discomfort and problems. I like to be "down to earth" and more directive in therapy because I'd like to get your problems solved as quickly as we can. I believe we, as humans, can benefit from having someone to talk to at any point in our lives and I'm ready to talk to you!
We'll get to know each other, learn what it is you want to address, talk about any prior attempts and the outcomes, and try to just be relaxed and fun so that we're not ALL business. I like very casual sessions where we can have a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. We'll make a list of things we might want to start with and, likely, I'll give you an assignment to do for our next session (nothing hard, mind you). We'll use your assignment as a base to work from and build on what we do together.
I don't see myself as the "answer" to everything. As a provider, I like to work as a team on whatever we're doing. Sometimes I come on an answer for you, other times you'll come up with a solution that I didn't see coming. Either way, we work collaboratively on the goal. I also don't use a lot of "psychobabble" in my language, preferring to be more average-Joe-on-the-street. I believe in using situations, events and history from your life to illustrate things we might be working on. I'd also like to think that there's not a lot of difference between myself and my clients except that maybe I've already been down the road you're traveling now.
I work mainly with adults who are seeking to make a change in their lives because 1) they need to solve a problem that bugs them 2) they feel it's time address something that hasn't worked for a long time 3) just want someone to help them get moving to a better, more healthy lifestyle. If you're ready to try to make a change, let's get going. Time is precious!
Kevin Minnick offers therapy covered by Managed Health Services (Managed Medicaid), Medicaid - Managed Health Services and UnitedHealthcare/Optum - Medicaid in Indiana.
I began using CBT in graduate school when it was still somewhat "new". We can learn to challenge our thinking, change our behaviors and gain new insights to how we respond to all kinds of situations once we understand the relationship of our thinking and emotions. I like to have CBT "tools" for clients to learn to use and apply the tools where necessary.
Motivation Interviewing allows all persons to feel heard and respected while working on solving problems. I like to use MI when we're working on some behaviors that are contrary to the the stated goals. We can examine the motivation behind the behavior and find a solution.