I earned my Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Georgia and completed my Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Valdosta University in Georgia. At this moment, I live in Palm Coast, Florida, with my wife and our German shepherd and Maine coon cat. My wife and I both graduated from the same master's program, almost at the same time, and we've continued to learn from and adapt to life's challenges and victories. I have experienced a plethora of struggle and pain, and have found a purposeful place in my heart for joining others in working through their pain. I have always had a deep appreciation for nature and for being a part of the natural world, and have sought much of my own healing through interacting with the world we were all born into. Living ten minutes from the beach means I am able to fish quite often, and I employ this hobby to interact with the natural world in a meaningful and challenging manner, and I have learned about as much about life through fishing as anything else. I continue to learn - about myself, about people, and about the fish I cannot see but know are there. Much like those elusive fish that we go after, the hopes, dreams, and nightmares that we carry inside us make the ocean of the Self - the calm winds, slow rolling waves, and the squalls and tempests all have their places inside of us. It is the navigation of these things that makes all the difference. As a therapist, I seek to illuminate the way that has been hidden beneath the waves - to navigate paths unknown, abandoned, or newly discovered.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
I specialize in addiction and trauma recovery and believe in utilizing the client's own sense of Self in a creative and 'always new' perspective to establish a sense of purposeful adventure and meaningful exploration during sessions. I will work with you to understand and change deeply-rooted beliefs arising from early trauma resulting in suppressed and repressed emotions and memories. I am trained in EMDR, a technique for treating trauma that can help unlock and process emotions that are often not accessible through traditional talk therapy. I will work with you to incorporate new revelations and changes into life in a functional way.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
I emphasize joining and collaborative connection, and will accompany clients and families through the high places and the low. I employ a wide range of therapeutic approaches to problems, including Narrative Therapy, Collaborative Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Family Systems, psychodynamics, a trauma-informed lens, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) among many others. I additionally employ a classically psychodynamic perspective on emotion, the development of pathology, resolution of trauma via the accessing of suppressed emotions, and courageous engagement with opposing internal forces
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My biggest strengths are rapport, joining, EMDR, use of metaphor, communication, concepts of Self and persona, grief and loss, addiction, and General Systems application