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Gregg Malone, LPC - Therapist at Grow Therapy

Gregg Malone

Gregg Malone

LPC
10 years of experience
Virtual

Let me start by saying that I love being a mental health therapist! I genuinely enjoy every minute of it. I'm passionate about ending the stigma surrounding mental health and normalizing therapy, especially amongst the Veteran community. My nonjudgmental approach is to confront irrational thought patterns and continuously strive to recognize the unique complexity and potential of each person. I address each issue with great compassion, empathy and with lighthearted humor to facilitate growth and emotional connection. After leaving the US Army, I spent the better part of the past 20-years working and volunteering in the local area as a counselor helping returning US Veterans experiencing stressful and chaotic challenges. I earned a Master’s degree Applied Business Leadership (SMU-Dallas), a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (UNT-Denton), and enhanced my counseling skills and knowledge within the context of Marriage and Family counseling with a PhD in Psychology (SMU-Dallas). As both a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor (LPC-S) and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC), The bulk of my clinical practice has been helping clients manage anger, overcome traumatic experiences, improve communication and insight, and increase self-awareness. I have a passion for working with clients experiencing stressful and chaotic challenges including but not limited to sexual compulsivity, anger management, trauma, bereavement, anxiety, depression, PTSD, addictions recovery, and emotional suppression. I especially enjoy working with couples seeking to enhance their relationship in such areas as emotional connection, communication, trust, conflict, and sexual intimacy.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

It takes a lot of strength to make that first therapy appointment. To admit you may need some help or that you have a condition, symptom, or some challenges to work through — takes a lot of self-awareness and inner strength! Despite some misconceptions, my job isn’t to solve your problems for you. My main goal for our first session is to help you learn how to better help yourself. I can’t tell you what to do, change your relationship with others, or tell the people who’ve hurt you just how wrong they were. But I can help you recognize your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths! During your first counseling session, you can expect to • Discuss your challenges and WHY you are seeking counseling. • Discuss your symptoms. • Be open and honest. • Have the opportunity to ask questions. • Have your confidentiality respected. • Be an active part of the process. • Be asked simple questions about your history, including your childhood, education, relationships, your current living situation, and your career. • Be asked what you expect to gain from therapy. • Be asked what your strengths and weakness are. We may dive deep into your interpersonal relationships, not examine the faults of others, and help you understand your role in making yourself a better person. My nonjudgmental approach is to confront irrational thought patterns and continuously strive to recognize the unique complexity and potential of each person. Moreover, I seek to provide an environment of compassion, empathy, and understanding to help each individual build on their strengths and attain personal growth.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

Education and Experience. Gregg’s goal is to provide an environment of encouragement, compassion, and understanding to collaboratively help each client attain the growth and changes they would like to achieve. He seeks to help individuals, couples, and families effectively resolve issues that can cause both stress and dysfunction. When working with couples and families, his nonjudgmental approach is to confront irrational thought patterns and continuously strive to recognize the unique complexity and potential of each person. Moreover, he seeks to provide an environment of compassion, empathy, and understanding to help each individual build on their strengths and attain personal growth.

About Gregg Malone

Identifies as

Specializes in

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Appointments

Virtual

My treatment methods

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic treatment that helps people identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that negatively influence their behavior and emotions. It is an evidence-based approach used to treat various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, ADHD, phobias, personality disorders, and sexual compulsive disorders (including porn addiction). This therapy can help you identify and replace negative or damaging behaviors learned un your past. Moreover, CBT aims to help you identify and explore the ways your emotions and thoughts can affect your actions. Once you notice these patterns, you can begin learning how to change your behaviors and develop new coping strategies (In other words, the way you think and feel about something can affect what you do). CBT involves the use of many varied techniques. I will work with you to find the ones that work best for you. Typical treatment often involves the following: • recognizing how inaccurate thinking can worsen problems • learning new problem-solving skills • gaining confidence and a better understanding and appreciation of your self-worth • learning how to face fears and challenges • using role play and calming techniques when faced with potentially challenging situations The goal of these techniques is to replace unhelpful or self-defeating thoughts with more encouraging and realistic ones. Homework is another important part of CBT. Just as school assignments helped you practice and develop the skills you learned in class; therapy assignments can help you become more familiar with the skills you’re developing.

Family Therapy

Individual therapy is a fantastic resource for improving mental health. It provides a safe space to explore your thoughts and feelings, develop coping mechanisms, and gain valuable insights. But sometimes, individual therapy alone might not be enough. Family therapy includes family members in the therapy sessions to improve communication and interaction, understanding, and offer support in coping with your mental health challenges. Our family affects who we are and who we become, for better and for worse. We learn our vocabulary, our habits, our customs and rituals, and how to view and observe the world around us. We also learn how to love and how to interact with others from these first important relationships. Family therapy views individuals’ problems in the context of the larger unit: the family Family therapy techniques may include reframing, paradoxical interventions, or therapeutic exercises from various other types of therapy models. The techniques I like to employ will depend on the specific problems the client or clients present with. In a nutshell, the goal of family therapy is to work together to heal any mental, emotional, or psychological problems tearing your family apart. To guide a family towards a healthy life, I aim to aid the client(s) in improving communication, solving family problems, understanding and handling family situations, and creating a better functioning home environment.

Couples Counseling

Couples counseling therapy is a type of therapy that aims to help romantic partners address relationship conflicts, improve communication, and increase affection and empathy for one another. It is often short-term and focuses on specific (interpersonal) problems. In couples counseling, the relationship itself is the client, not the two individuals in the relationship. I’ve enhanced my counseling skills and knowledge within the context of Marriage and Family counseling with a PhD in Psychology (SMU-Dallas) where I work with couples who have experienced extra-marital affairs, sexual (performance) problems, and porn-addiction. I especially enjoy working with couples seeking to enhance their relationship in such areas as emotional connection, communication, trust, conflict, and sexual intimacy. I address each issue with great compassion, empathy and with lighthearted humor to facilitate growth and emotional connection.

Gottman method

Let me start by saying that I love being a mental health therapist! I genuinely enjoy every minute of it. I'm passionate about couples counseling and the Gottman method (couples-based therapy and education) is my preferred technique. One of the major tenets of the Gottman Method is that couples require five times more positive interactions than negative, as negative emotions, like defensiveness and contempt, hurt a relationship more than positive ones heal. As a result, the therapy focuses on developing the skills and understanding necessary for partners to maintain fondness and admiration, turn toward each other to get their needs met, and manage conflict. It also focuses on how couples can react and repair relations when they do hurt each other. The method can be applied to many relationship problems but may be particularly useful for couples who are: Stuck in chronic conflict; Coping with infidelity; Struggling with communication; In a stagnant relationship or emotionally distanced; Facing difficulties over specific issues, such as money, parenting, or sex. I focus on a couple’s patterns of interacting, and partners learn and implement relationship-building and problem-solving skills together. I will recommend books to read and homework assignments outside our sessions. Expect to grow as a couple outside of therapy.