(he/him)
I am a committed Christian. My wife and I have been married for over 30 years during which we successfully raised three children. I am a US Air Force veteran (23 years), a retired DoD Civil Service veteran (15 years), and I have been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor for 10 years. I have lived in the Clearwater area for 20+ years. I have a lot of experience working with clients struggling with addiction (residential, IOP, private practice). Plus I have successfully helped many clients sort out mental health distress associated with anxiety, depression, grief, and trauma.
During our first session we make sure we are a good fit, and most importantly--we begin to eplore why they are seeking help. From the first meeting I am constantly seeking to learn how I can help my clients meet their expectations of the counseling experience. I have learned most folks can figure out their own solutions just by sitting with a trained professional and talking about their world.
I have learned that by really listening to what my clients are saying; by getting to what my clients are aspiring to achieve; by encouraging heartfelt reflection, and by probing thoughts and emotions through thoughtful conversation, that I can draw out from folks their own strengths, values, effective solutions, worthwhile goals, and ambitions. Counseling can be such a wonderful experience.
I am eager to work with individuals who are struggling with addiction, anxiety, depression, trauma, or grief. Together we seek to foster an environment where they feel safe to discover the reasons for their mental health distress, and learn skills for coping.
Thoughts, emotions, behaviors. Address unhelpful thoughts with helpful, correct thoughts, and healthy emotions with healthy behaviors will follow.
Trauma's of all sorts enter into our life and shape how we respond and interact with our loved-ones, colleagues, and friends. By learning to recognize how the trauma's are affecting our health and identifying appropriate coping skills, the unhelpful memories, emotions, and thoughts can become manageable
Using the unchanging and active Word of God to examine every nook and cranny of one's life.