New to Grow
My name is Christopher, and I believe life can be better than what we have adapted to and gotten used to. Over the years I first began working with the indigent population and there I learned about the connections between substance abuse, mental illness and trauma. I then worked more with addiction when I worked with people struggling to stop substance abuse and once again, I recognized a connection between these behaviors and trauma. Finally, before completing the last stages of earning hours for my license I worked with children and families and noticed the way personal trauma experienced by adults effected parenting and family relationships. Helping people address anxiety and depression symptoms independent of a trauma made improved my abilities who help people that deal with those symptoms along with other trauma indicators.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
In the first session, I will get ask a lot of clarifying questions to get a sense of why you have decided to begin treatment now and what your past experiences were.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
My approach is warm, direct and fluid. I will always have an idea of what direction treatment should go but I operate as a passenger with a road map suggesting which direction to take; but ultimately the client is the driver and decides where we go. I often use humor and encourage real life examples and regularly check if the direction we are going is the right one.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I have experience treating people s cognitive distortions which cause anxiety and depression and also improving people's trauma symptoms and coping. I have also helped clients reduce their symptoms of bereavement and find long term improvement in their overall well being. I am most equipped to work with males whom are also minorities; but I have worked with people from all walks of life. I work best with people whom are open minded and ready to make changes in their life that will bring them relief.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT is the foundation of my treatment method. I explore the relationship of the cognitive triad with my clients, speaking about each in detail before working on restructuring core beliefs and negative thoughts.
Trauma-Focused CBT
I have training with doing my modality with a trauma focus. We talk at length about trauma in general, how to address it, and how to protect oneself from it in the future.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I am open minded and believe in unconditional positive regard. This method allows the client to decide the direction of the treatment. The goal is to help empower the client to lead their own healing through authentic interactions and consistently empathizing with the client in order to understand their world