(she/her)
New to Grow
Loretta has been a licensed professional counselor for over thirty years serving Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Loretta provides a safe, confidential and empathetic space for adults navigating difficult life transitions, specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy, personal centered and brief solution focused therapy. Loretta works primary with adults dealing with anxiety, grief, anger, depression and medical issues. She has provided counseling services to military and veterans family members throughout Asia, Middle East and various United States locations to help manage stress. Loretta uses Solution Focused Therapy when working with couples because it will help find solutions rather than origins of problems. Loretta has been married for 32 years to Air Force Veteran.
Client can expect introductions, confidentiality statement and understanding. Client should expect to answer questions about what brought them to counseling and what are they expecting to receive from counseling. Client should also expect to answer questions about challenges and personal history especially with mental health, drugs and alcohol. The first session will built a foundation for future sessions and supportive care to work on treatment goals.
My greatest strength as a counselor is my ability to listen, to show empathy and to be honest. I tend to have a non-judgmental attitude toward the clients I am working with because everyone is not going to think the way I do. My role as a counselor is to build rapport and to maintain client safety and to treat the client the way I want to be treated. I do this by showing empathy and by putting myself in their shoes.
I work best with clients wo are highly motivated and self aware to be engaged in the process. These are the clients who show up on time or reschedule before the session. These are clients who are open to change and respect boundaries within the therapeutic process. I am open to working with anyone over 18 years and older. I especially love working with clients who have a military background. My husband of 32 years served in the AF. I have several family members who have served or still serving in the Military.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT will be used to identify challenging and dysfunctional beliefs the client may have in order to reshape them into positive thoughts. Homework is often given outside of sessions to track emotions and situations to reinforce positive behaviors.