I'm Dr. Joel Sutton, Professional Clinical Counselor, licensed to practice in the state of Ohio. I am born, bred and educated in Ohio. While I worked in the schools for over three decades, I have extensive private practice experience in working with adult mental health issues, particularly fostering emotional regulation, improving parenting skills, working on adult relationship issues, and the development of healthy personal coping skills.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first few sessions, I will be gathering relevant background information, checking with the client for accuracy. This is critical for me to accurately empathize with your concerns and uncover hidden strengths that may have never been recognized. We will then construct a treatment plan that will work to maximize the existing strengths and give us a roadmap to build additional coping skills. Important note: the assessment and treatment planning are fluid processes that occur throughout the therapeutic experience. The clients' needs are always at the center of this process.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
As a provider, I have no desire to have clients become dependent on me for "lifetime" counseling. I work toward helping people free themselves from thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are barriers to the development of their best, authentic self. I help people develop independence and skills for healthy interpersonal connections.
About Joel Sutton
Appointments
Virtual
My treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I have attended a conference session on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, studied ACT via books, articles, and videos for over three years. I have used components of ACT to treat mild to moderate depression, anxiety, and difficulties with intrusive thinking.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I have had graduate level coursework with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a major topic; been supervised providing CBT in school settings and community-based clinical settings; attended multiple full-day conferences, read extensively on CBT, and have developed and applied a CBT-based framework for use with children, adolescents, and adults. I have presented my program at local and state level professional organizations. I have also taught CBT as a topic in graduate level counseling and school psychology coursework. I use CBT with parents and their children/adolescents to develop parenting skills, problem-solving skills and coping skills.
Child Parent Psychotherapy
I have extensive experience in working children/adolescents and their parents. Treating severe behavior issues exhibited by a child or adolescent without assisting the parent in developing coping skills and improved parenting practices is simply a waste of time and energy. I have provided parenting training based upon multiple well-established models including Dr. William Jenson's Tough Kid" work and the "Explosive Child" work of Dr. Ross Greene.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I am a certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist. I have completed Dr. Lane Pederson's training, read extensively on DBT, and attended several full-day seminars on the topic. As many DBT concepts overlap with and complement CBT concepts, I have found DBT to provide an enhanced therapeutic effect for many clients.
Eclectic
In nearly forty years of practice, I have discovered the glaring difference between the medical model of health care and the mental health model of health care. The medical model is reductionistic and dedicated to identifying a specific disorder and then applying a specific pharmacological or surgical treatment, typically irrespective of the patient/client's age, developmental level, trauma background, exposure to environmental toxins, resiliency factors, or eating/sleeping behavioral patterns. The pressure on the healthcare provider is to look for disease. Any mental health model of treatment that is presented as a cure-all is the victim of a spurious claim. I attempt to honor a bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to treatment. I do my best to fit the treatment to the client's needs/strengths and work to help clients find their healthiest, most authentic and resiient selves.
