LP, 18 years of experience
New to Grow
Hi, I'm Dr. Ryan Buhite. First and foremost, I am a husband and a father. I received my Doctorate in Psychology (Psy.D.) from Wright State University in 2007 and have been Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in Clinical Psychology since 2014. I'm from a small, rural Pennsylvania town where I learned the value of faith, service to others, community, and hard work on my grandfather's dairy farm. I am passionate about helping others grow and change. Following graduate school, I served in the United States Air Force as a clinical psychologist, treating clients, consulting with leadership, and training young clinicians. While I have experience working with many different clinical concerns, I specialize with veterans, those with anxiety and depression, trauma, and men's issues. I'm a "down-to-earth" person who enjoys getting to know people. I find great meaning and purpose in collaborating with others to better understand their problems and how to address them, according to their values.
Please contact me for a free 15 min consultation to see if we're a good fit to work together! If we choose to work together, the first session is very different from follow-up sessions and I have three main goals for the first session: 1. I explain how therapy works and review an informed consent, which are the agreements that I make to you as your provider (limits of confidentiality, emergency procedures, how to schedule, etc) and the agreements you make to me as the client (calling to cancel, showing up on time, payment and fees). 2. I get to know why you are coming in for treatment. This requires me asking a lot of detailed questions about symptoms, your medical history, relationships, education, jobs, cultural background, religious beliefs, and safety issues. Essentially, you are giving me a synopsis of your life, how you got you where you are now and the things you want to be different in your life. 3. Lastly, I want to get a sense of what you hope to achieve in treatment. While it is important for me to have a thorough understanding of these things in order to best help you, it is very normal for people not to feel comfortable sharing sensitive information on the first meeting. You always have the ability to decline answering questions if you don't wish to answer them. While I strive to collect the information I need in the first session, it is common for some of this process to spill over into the second session. Typically, "treatment" doesn't start until the second session.
I believe a sound, trusting relationship with a well-trained psychologist is a powerful agent for change. I have been given feedback by clients that I'm very easy to talk to and people enjoy joining me in a relationship to effect changes to their lives. Given my background treating active duty military personnel, I have had a lot of treatment success with people struggling with relationship problems, depression, anxiety, trauma, men's issues, sleep problems, and veterans or first responders. While I strive to use science-backed interventions that help people achieve their treatment goals as quickly as possible, I listen to the client on how fast or slow they want to address issues and in what ways they feel comfortable doing so. While I welcome people to talk about their faith in treatment and how it improves their lives, that is not expected or a requirement.
My ideal client is someone who desires to have a better understanding of the origins of their mental health concerns and who is motivated to collaborate with me on science-backed interventions. A typical session involves setting an agenda on what we want to discuss, talking about how symptoms have changed since the last session, discussing any goals that were mutually set between sessions, and then working on whatever intervention we have agreed to undertake. Interventions could be talking about specific concerns or learning and practicing skills that may help achieve treatment goals. Sessions typically end with the client setting goals to work on before the next session. My ideal client is willing to challenge themselves with trying new behaviors, new ways of thinking, and is open to the possibility of changing their environment between sessions. Therapy is meant to help people better understand what changes will improve their lives and then actively plan to make those changes. Thus, the most impactful part of treatment is the changes people make in their lives between sessions! My ideal client is open to making these changes in their lives, achieve their goals.
I’ve been using CBT in my practice for the past 18 years. It’s helped dozens of clients challenge recurring thoughts and manage their anxiety. We’ll use CBT to recognize how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact with one another. We’ll then use that knowledge to change your thinking patterns, which will help you lead a more relaxed and less stressful life.
In addition to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I have had extensive training in Humanistic, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Existential treatment types and can use whichever treatment seems to best fit what the client needs.
I have had extensive training from the Center for Deployment Psychology and 18 years of experience using Prolonged Exposure with combat veterans and survivors of sexual abuse. Prolonged Exposure is one of three science-backed interventions which has been shown to be effective for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Our mental health has a powerful effect on the quality and quantity of sleep. I have extensive training and 18 years of practice working with people on how they can make changes that maximize their sleep.
I have extensive training from the Center for Deployment Psychology and 18 years of experience using Cognitive Processing Therapy for those who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD). This is one of the three most effective treatments for PTSD.