LCSW, 8 years of experience
My name is Deems and I'm an LCSW. I am heavily CBT and DBT based but as with most therapists, I draw from a lot of places depending on the situation. I am casual, chatty, eclectic in both my work and my personal interests, and am big on transparency and accountability. Queer and Poly friendly. Big nerd. Dad. I like art, the gym, reading, and going overboard on a new hobby every 6 months.
The first session is a get-to-know-you meeting for both of us. We're mostly seeing if you're comfortable talking to me. I will blah-blah for about ten minutes reading you the boilerplate script of things I should and am required to say, legal and policy advisements and the like. The rest, we'll talk with a focus on getting to know each other. I need to know where we're starting, and you need to know whether we're a fit and you want to come back, because whether we get along is a big factor in how well everything works.
I am relaxed, flexible, ethical, and hard to shock. I don't have any problems changing approaches or focus when the situation calls for it. I am a person people can relax around: You can be yourself, you can swear, you can be a regular person. I am also the person in my house who eats all the end pieces of the loaf of bread.
I work with just about everybody on just about everything. The profile lets you select a limited number of issues you work with. I have worked a lot with anxiety, boundaries, depression, PTSD, substance use, ADHD, personality disorders, and many other issues in private practice as well as having experience with severe mood and psychotic disorders from my time working in government programs. If you want to be here, and you want to change something, we can work on it. If you don't, that's what we need to talk about.
8 ratings with written reviews
July 24, 2025
Seriously one of the best people to talk to. Uses humor (which I love because I do to) to kind of relate things to something else. Absolutely amazing at helping YOU find the best solution for yourself.
July 14, 2025
My experience with mental health professionals has not been great over the years--Deems is different.
June 4, 2025
Lots in common and felt like the conversation flowed naturally and didn't feel like we were checking off boxes.
I have used CBT in multiple private and institutional settings. It is useful in reducing symptoms by helping you to learn better ways of coping, as well as changing patterns of thinking and behavior.
Dialectical behavior therapy helps you learn better ways to cope, and skills for managing unhealthy or problematic efforts to control intense, negative emotions.