Creekside Family Therapy, PLLC

I have extensive experience in the inpatient psychiatric setting, as a therapist with Crossroads Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit at Carolina East Medical Center in New Bern. I also served as the partial hospitalization therapist for Carolina East Medical Center, for seasonal periods during my time with the hospital. I am one of the few therapists in our area that has had the privilege to serve on the psychiatric inpatient unit for an extended period of time. From that experience, I am familiar with adults that are admitted for safety and stabilization of severe mental health diagnoses, under the general categories of mood and altered thought process. I have experience providing counseling for patients experiencing psychosis, as well as patients with high suicide risk. I have experience counseling with patients with symptoms of PTSD, personality disorder features, and sometimes patients with comorbidity of substance use. I have experience providing counseling in the hospital setting individually, in groups, and with patient’s families and support systems. I also have experience providing case management and social justice advocacy. In private practice, I have experience with individual, couples, and family counseling. Notably, I do not provide primary substance use counseling, as that is not my area of specialty.

My theoretical orientation is Adlerian Psychology, which is a positive, holistic approach that focuses on goals and purposes of human behavior, such as social equality, self-esteem, and contribution to community. With an Adlerian foundation, I tailor counseling techniques to each case. Techniques include Transactional Analysis, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Narrative Therapy, and Family Systems with Genograms and Attachment concepts; EMDR basic techniques, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Gottman Couples techniques with Emotion Focused Therapy. I also use Christian faith-based materials upon request.

My professional background also includes several years of training and licensing therapeutic foster parents and ten years as a public middle school band director/teacher. I am comfortable with chaos, and am familiar with the challenges of the teen years. My band classroom was inclusive, including special needs and academically gifted students. I was a faculty member on the 504/IEP committee, also participating in parent teacher conferences. My niche skill as a middle school teacher included helping preteen and adolscent students and their parents through social and personal challenges.

As a graduate of Liberty University, one of the required courses is about practicing as a professional counselor and also as a Christian. The text for this course was authored by Mark R. McMinn, Ph.D., titled, “Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling”. The position advocated for in the text, is that all three of those topics are allies. As a professional counselor in practice, my approach is congruent with the position in the McMinn text and is ethical, in that each client maintains their autonomy. I do not impose my personal beliefs into a client’s situation. Each client maintains their autonomy and their journey is their own.