I once read that counseling and psychotherapy is like a talk show and the client is the only guest. Although I am not quick with humor, I am warm, sincere, respectful and down to earth. I will honor you as a valued guest. If I’m not the right counselor for you, I will help you to find what you need.
As a counselor, I practice from an action oriented perspective focusing on wellness, client strengths and skill building to promote growth, develop resiliency and to master life challenges. We hear a lot these days about ‘positive psychology’. Counselors have always practiced positive psychology!
You and I are partners in an interactive process. The process often works best with weekly or every other week appointments. An interactive process produces results fairly quickly, usually months, not years. You will benefit from my feedback that allows you to quickly put into action what you learn.
My feedback allows you to use your insight for faster growth. In individual therapy, the time between sessions is where change occurs: we talk about things, you think them over, make some changes and we continue to refine the process. In couple and group therapy change occurs in real time, during the sessions.
Licensed Professional Counselor, Georgia LPC #001157
Member Of The Year Georgia EAPA 2016/17
This statement says a lot about how I work. I am primarily a cognitive behavioral therapist. CBT means that I won’t be a ‘silent partner’ in your growth who sits in silence with you except for the occasional question of “how do you feel?”
We both know how you feel – sad, depressed, angry, anxious, confused, lonely, and so forth. If you felt good you wouldn’t be coming to see me! Feelings are important; however, I also want to know “what are you thinking?” What are the negative thoughts that prevent you from living the life you that you want?
I believe that what we think causes what we feel and determines our behavior:
Thoughts > Emotions > Behavior
Driving north on Interstate 85 from downtown, inside the perimeter:
Exit 91, Clairmont Road and turn left (west) onto Clairmont Road; proceed three-tenths of a mile.
Right at the traffic light: Century Boulevard, which is the main entrance to the Century Center Office Park (the sign also lists the Marriott Hotel).
Left at the first parking lot inside the office park (it is the second break in the median). This is just a few car lengths from the entrance. Park immediately after turning into the lot.
The offices are shaped in a horseshoe around a small lake filled with ducks and geese. The buildings are tan stucco and have maroon awnings, balconies and porches with stairs on the outside.
The stairs to my second-floor suite are directly behind the blue/white U.S. Post Office box.
Please make yourself comfortable in the reception area and fill out paperwork I may have left for you. If you will be using health insurance, please have your card with you, your co pay (cash or check) and any authorization numbers.
It is a good idea to go over these directions with me on the telephone. A 50 minute appointment time will be exclusively reserved for you.
I am almost always on time. Unkept appointments (not cancelled with 24+ hour notice) or very late arrivals are not usually rescheduled.
In couples counseling the ‘relationship’ is the client, not each individual person. It is like a third person in the room. In individual counseling we talk about issues and the client goes back to the environment and implements change. In couples counseling real change occurs in the office, the real world is present. This promotes much faster growth and change.
The most common difficulties are communication, trust, infidelity and betrayal, financial problems, sex and intimacy issues, parenting and in-laws. Infidelity takes many forms, including non-physical/ romantic and online.
I have a great history of helping couples even when one refuses to come to counseling. I am skilled at teaching how to talk so your partner will hear you and how to listen to what your partner is saying or not saying, how to effectively argue and to learn about the differences between men and women.
I am trained in the John Gottman, Ph.D. Level 1 Clinical Training: (The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, The Relationship Cure, What Makes Love Last, The Men’s Guide to Women, A Couples Guide To Communication). Gottman writes about the ‘sound marital house’ and the importance is not so much how couples communicate or argue but how they make up, the ability to repair difficulties.
I am a Certified Facilitator in Prepare/Enrich Building Strong Marriages: The program utilizes an online, in depth, individualized couples assessment as a starting point for professional sessions to reveal and interpret relationship strengths and areas for development. There are assessments to fit every kind of relationship, married, living together, with children and cultural. This is not a self-study program.
Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman: There are only a few self-help books that I can recommend and this is one of them. Chapman says that we have five different ways that each of us experience and give love: words of affirmation, quality time, touch, gifts, and acts of service. He generously offers a free, online assessment at: 5lovelanguages.com.
Attachment and Commitment in Couples: My most recent interests in marriage and couples work is influenced by the works of Dan Siegel, M.D. and Sue Johnson, Ed.D. Dr. Johnson believes that hurt is composed of anger, sadness and fear – the fear of being excluded, abandoned and rejected. For an interesting, self-help exploration I can recommend the free questionnaires on yourpersonality.net.
PET (Parent Effectiveness Training) I have been certified in the Thomas Gordon, Ph.D., Effectiveness Training Institute since the early 1980’s.
STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting) by Dinkmeyer & McKay.
Active Parenting by Michael H. Popkin.
Are you trying to navigate a workplace where there are multiple generations
and struggling to understand the dynamics?
Are you in a frustrating work environment/situation?
Is your boss a bully?
Are you learning how to be a supervisor?
Are you wondering if you should submit your resignation?
Do you lack assertive communication skills at work?
Are you struggling to find a work & life balance?
Are you wondering why you haven’t been promoted?
Are you dealing with difficult people at work?
