Hello, I'm a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Kentucky. I graduated in 2004 with a master's degree. Before putting all my college credits together and working toward a bachelor's degree I worked in fast-food, retail, and banking. As an older adult, I finally achieved my dream goal of being a counselor and since, I have worked in community mental health. I have counseled many different individuals but mostly children and their families. I worked for 10 years doing testing and evaluations for the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Most recently, I have worked as a mental health counselor for a college university. There I have worked with young adults, adjusting to independent living and being away from home for the first time.

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

Our first session will be discussing your concerns. I may ask about any past concerns and gather more information needed to better understand the issues you are having. I want both of us to determine if I am the right therapist to help with those concerns. I want to start right away building trust so that you can feel at ease and more confident that things can be better. I want also to end the session with some aid or information to help until the next session.

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

In addition to my life experiences, my years of work experiences has given me the opportunities to work with children and their families, foster care, experience working with trauma issues, adults with severe mental illnesses, and adults wanting to be more independent. I am a LPCC-S meaning I can supervise counselors for licensures. I will use my experience, but also do the research to be sure a person's particular problem is being best addressed.

Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.

My years of work and life experiences, I believe, have given me experience working with most individuals. I have counseled children, teens, adults, couples and families. The consumers I work with currently have already been determined to have a disability and are working on becoming more independent. However, they may not yet have all the skills needed to be independent. I work individually and in groups with students diagnosed with autism, learning disabilities, anxiety, depression and behavioral concerns. These students may have even more struggles with becoming independent.

About Teresa Adkins