LMSW-C, 8 years of experience
New to Grow
Greetings! My name is Brian. After years working primarily with individuals who were court-ordered to chat with me, I've just recently started my own practice to spread my wings and talk with folks eager to improve their situations without quite so much external motivation. Some background information about me if you're interested: I attained my Masters in Clinical Social Work degree from Ferris State University and graduated with the highest honors. I've worked in housing and with those experiencing homelessness. I've worked with children in foster care and with the parents trying to get them back into their care. I've worked with teens and older adults and every age between, both individually and in groups. I've helped educate about substance use, adjust from violence and trauma, cope with depression and anxiety, and develop time-management and stress-management skills, among others. I'm proud of what I've accomplished thus far, but what can I say? I want to do more!
A warm greeting. A genuine hope to learn about you, gain an understanding of what you're hoping to accomplish, and begin working on how that might be accomplished. By the end of our first session, I hope to have addressed any questions or concerns, and given you a taste of what you can expect from this wild, colorful, caring Therapist.
I'll be the first to tell you, there are more intelligent, more professional, and more experienced therapists out there. What I offer is genuine care and concern, and an honest interest in helping you weather whatever storm you are in. One of my most memorable trainings I participated in showed with statistics that the specific program, approach, or intervention is basically insignificant if you don't have a therapeutic relationship and rapport built. My focus is to always be real and trust that if I'm saying it, it's not engineered, it's not fabricated. It's real.
My ideal client is someone who believes their situation can be improved, and is willing to take some potentially unconventional approaches to get there. I believe in you and your own strengths and abilities. And I believe in my ability to help you see them too. I hope that you take away a sense of hope after every conversation we have. I look forward to the day when we have nothing else to talk about and you go out and tackle life the way I know you can. You may be struggling now, but you've done it this far and I have every confidence in your own strength and resilience, and I will remind you of it every chance I get. To specifically answer the question: I feel most confident assisting Veterans, or anyone who has experienced violence or trauma. I have nearly a decade of experience working with substance use/abuse/addiction and have served primarily in an Outpatient setting, though have experience both in detox and in Residential Treatment. Another area that stays close to my heart are those that are grieving. That most often is associated with those that have lost loved ones, but I would also argue that we as humans grieve anytime we go through major life transitions. We long for what was, whilst battling the fear of what could be. Next, I've worked with teenagers while working in Foster Care. Both my professional and personal experience is that High School does NOT fully prepare you for what comes next. You either know exactly what you're going to do, fake it til' you make it, or get lost in the seemingly infinite possibilities.
This has been my bread and butter for a while now. In working with substance use/abuse/addiction, pretty much from day one my peers and supervisors suggested I focus on that first. I appreciate how it emphasizes the importance of YOUR goals rather than my hope for you. This makes it possible for me to accept that I will never know you better than you do. You are the expert of you, and in my experience many therapists will suggest the opposite and that never felt right to me. This allows me to find your goals and broaden any ambivalence you have, with hopes of resolving it and moving forward!
CBT has been one of the leading approaches. I appreciate how it explores potentially faulty thinking and with practice, allows you to adjust your thoughts before they manifest in behaviors and cause potential consequences. I appreciate CBT because it aims to be on the quicker end of therapy options, saving you time, energy, and money and producing results in a semi-rapid fashion.
As an MSW Intern, I was facilitating group therapy a fair bit of time before I started working with folks individually. To some extent, I feel more comfortable leading groups and it gives you the opportunity to learn from me as well as the other members in the group, as well as working on social skills and communication. Wins all around, in my opinion.
With my initial goal of working with Veterans like myself, anything related to trauma was my focus, if not my obsession. I'll admit, it helped me figure some things out about myself, and I am uniquely qualified to approach trauma in therapy, as I am well versed in it professionally and personally, as result of my experiences in combat operations. This is one of my most passionate areas to work in as a therapist, and very prevalent.
This is one of my favorite skills taught relatively early in my studies as a Clinical Social Worker. It lines up perfectly with my goal of unleashing your strengths, including those you are familiar with and those you may not be. I admit, it may be uncomfortable for you, but I will celebrate your strengths, even if you will not. I want you to recognize how badass you are. You've made it through life this far, and I liken therapy to the minute a Boxer has in between rounds: a time to reflect, recover, and learn how best to win this fight.