Frequently Asked Questions

Teens and adults, ages 12 and up. I see both women and men, and right now it’s about an even split.

Some of the men I see have told me they chose me because I’m a man. If that matters to you, you’re not the first.

No, I don’t offer couples counseling.

Go ahead and reach out yourself. With the teens I work with, it’s usually a parent who makes that first call or sends that first email.

Nearly every teen I see has been to a counselor before, and often it helped for a time before things slid back. If that sounds like your family, I hear that story a lot.

It matters to me that you and your teenager want the same thing out of this, so what we work on in session and what happens at home are pulling in the same direction.

Most of my work is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The idea behind it is that your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions are all hooked together, and when one of them turns on you, the other two tend to follow.

Say your mind keeps repeating the same line, that you’re going to let everyone down. In session we slow that thought down and take a hard look at it together, along with what it pushes you to do.

Big problems get cut down into pieces you can actually work on. You’ll pick up practical tools, like how to call out that harsh voice the moment it starts up, and how to bring your stress back down when it spikes.

What we’re working toward is you handling your days with more confidence and holding a better opinion of yourself.

Along with CBT, I’m trained in EMDR and in trauma-focused CBT.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is aimed at a specific hard memory, like the first time panic hit, that still jolts you every time you think back to it. The goal is for that memory to come up without your body going on alert the way it used to.

My EMDR training focused on PTSD and panic disorder, and I’ve had special training in using it for panic attacks.

Trauma-focused CBT is a version of CBT built for people recovering from a painful or frightening experience.

I refer people out when someone else is better trained for what they need, and that can happen partway through our work too. You’ll hear it from me directly, and I’ll help you find the right person.

My aim is to keep therapy on the shorter side. Around 12 sessions is typical for a lot of the people I see.

For general anxiety, it’s often 6 to 12 sessions, and plenty of people notice they’re doing better by week 7 or 8. EMDR for panic attacks tends to take 3 to 6 sessions.

Treat those numbers as typical ranges. Your own count could land shorter or longer, and trauma work in particular looks different for every person, so I won’t guess at a number before I know you.

We settle on your goals in the first session, and those goals become the yardstick for whether this is working.

Somewhere after the six-week mark, we usually start spacing sessions out: every other week, then once a month, then a break. You decide when each of those steps happens.

Yes, most weeks there’s something to practice between sessions. The tools work better once you’ve used them out in your regular life.

How much depends on you. Some people want a clear assignment every time, and some people hear the word homework and groan, so I shape it to the person.

Be open and honest with me, including about the things that are uncomfortable to say out loud. Keep an open mind when I suggest something that feels a little odd the first time.

Do the homework. If it didn’t happen, tell me why, and we’ll adjust it.

More than anything, come in willing. Willingness is the one part I can’t supply for you.

I’ve worked as a counselor for about eight years.

My bachelor’s in psychology is from the University of North Texas, and my M.S. in Counseling is from Texas A&M University-Commerce. I’m also a National Certified Counselor (NCC).

My CBT training came from the Beck Institute, and I’ve had special training in EMDR for panic attacks.

Denton County Friends of the Family named me their Volunteer of the Year.