Licensed to practice in Virginia and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Addiction, Substance Misuse, Trauma and PTSD and 8 more.
(he/him)
New to Grow
I try to create a collaborative relationship between myself and the client. I have the belief that our thoughts are directly connected to how we feel. By working with clients to solve present-day problems it helps the client approach a stronger and healthier sense of self by focusing on the actual lived experience of a person. By helping clients gradually face and come to realize that their assumptions, evaluations and beliefs might be unhealthy and unrealistic. Having the client be aware even after they have learned to recognize when and where their mental processes have gone wrong, it can in some cases take considerable time or effort to replace a dysfunctional process or habit with a more reasonable and adaptive one.
During the first session, the meeting is an intake and assessment rather than a typical therapy session. I will briefly describe confidentiality and its limits, including mandated reporting, safety concerns, and privacy protections, while reassuring you that these policies are designed to protect your well-being. We will review practical details such as session length and then I will invite you to share only what feels comfortable as I gather information about your history, current concerns, and reasons for seeking therapy. I will emphasize collaboration by encouraging you to consider whether my therapeutic style feels like a good fit and by working together to identify goals, define what progress would look like, and explain how future sessions may differ from the initial evaluation. I will invite the client to ask questions about my background, credentials, or therapeutic approach.
I attribute my success to my 19 years in recovery, from which everything good in my life is a byproduct. I became involved in my profession because I am in recovery myself. I struggled with addiction for many years and did not graduate high school. At 16, I dropped out and did not return to school until I was 38 years old. I feel my most notable achievement is being in recovery. For someone who didn’t graduate high school, I have now earned a master’s degree, three state licenses and own my own business. I give other people hope by sharing my experience. My motto is “It’s never to late to be what you might have been.”
An ideal client is completely honest with their therapist about cravings, slips, or difficult thoughts, because healing is much harder when important information is hidden. They keep an open mind by trying the coping tools and exercises their therapist suggests, even when those strategies feel unfamiliar at first. They also understand that setbacks can happen and discuss them openly rather than skipping the next session out of shame. They define their own goals by deciding what a better life looks like, whether that means total sobriety, harm reduction, or another meaningful measure of progress. Finally, they practice between sessions by applying therapy skills in daily life outside the session.
The Cognitive Triangle explains that thoughts, emotions, and actions constantly influence one another, while automatic thoughts are fast, often unconscious interpretations of daily events that can become negative or irrational. Core beliefs are deeply held views about the self, others, and the world, and learned behaviors are actions shaped by past conditioning that may continue patterns of psychological distress. Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and challenging distorted or unhelpful thought patterns, while behavioral activation uses planned positive activities to interrupt cycles of avoidance or depression. Exposure exercises help clients safely face feared situations to reduce anxiety over time, and problem-solving training builds practical tools for coping with daily stressors.