Chris Kohlmann
Clients and I sometimes forget that we don't know each other. This sounds strange, I think, because you want the therapist to know you well enough to help you through. However, there may be things you don't want the therapist to know or, put differently, there may be things you don't even know about yourself so you couldn't possibly share them. Sometimes you might think, "Well what does this question have to do with my reaason for coming to therapy? Is he just being nosy?" First of all, please forget about any interest I might have in being nosy. I'm a professional and don't do that. If I ask questions, I have clinical reasons for them. I believe that therapy works when we trust each other.
First session
In our first session together I will want to collect as much information related to your seeking counsel from me as possible. You might think that some of the questions are irrelevant, but I'm thinking down the road to where that information could be very important. And, I'm fallible so I can get things wrong and may need to be corrected. Please then, correct me. As I see counseling, the client drives the work. Without your ample input there isn't much that I as a therapist can do.
Strengths
One of the things I've learned that stands out from my life experiences is that things are not always as they seem. This, in addition to my natural curiosity about and respect for others, makes my professional practice stand apart from that of others. Here's a brief illustration. Many years ago, I worked at a Joint Base of the U.S. military, attending to the children of servicemembers. My primary role was usually to help the kiddos who were missing a parent while they were away on rotation. A 5-year-old girl who, for convenience we'll call Sara, was having a horrible, anguished meltdown one day. Sara was kicking a classroom door from the main hallway where she was screaming and crying. She wanted to get in. The regular staff was doing nothing except to comment among themselves that she was a spoiled brat who was used to getting what she wanted. Well, what I learned from Sara was that she was apparently used to getting what she deserved and would settle for nothing less. She said that they had moved her to another room where the babies were, that is, the four-year-olds. She had been in that room last year and wasn't going back. That would have been a demotion. So, now that I understood she was fighting for her dignity, and fighting hard, I opened the door for her and smoothed her way with the regular staff, so that she could join the 5-year-olds. She would not be held back, nor should she be. She had been moved because of grown-up ways of handling things, and just to be clear she was not a disruptive child. I'm not sure that every therapist would have handled that the same way. I reached my outcome by listening to the client, Sara, and by helping her to grow.
Ideal clients
I work best with male clients aged 18 to 65. Men in this group may need help navigating their relationship with a parent[s], friendship[s], wife, or employer. These men are looking for relatively short-term solutions which will likely take a matter of weeks or more to fully understand and resolve. They do not want long-term therapy. They are practical and don't want to waste time and money.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
This treatment allows clients to recognize the interactions of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. For example, a client could be making themselves unnecessarily miserable because they think (or believe) that their boss has it out for them, whereas the boss herself could simply be having a bad day, unrelated to the client. In that case I would help a client to check and double check their reaction so that they don't react to a mistaken belief which leads them to hostility toward their boss.
Location
Virtual sessions
In-person sessions15204 Gibson Rd, Ashville, OH 43103
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Licensed in
- OhioLicense E.1901247