Therapists serving clients in Gardiner, ME

I am a seasoned counselor who has worked for many years in different countries and in many different environments. What I feel that I can do with all people is to meet on a mutual plane. I am supportive but want you to grow and learn how to deal with whatever issue you might have. I know that when a person feels understood and when two people can have mutual respect, a lot of growth happens. I am a humanistic counselor who tries to hear what is going on and at the same time help you learn to think differently and help you move past the difficult issues. I feel that one needs to be validated and heard. Then one needs to do what is going to help in moving past the difficulties so one can grow. So much of what we all deal with is those negative feelings that haunt us and drive us to feel unworthy and hurt. Learning to move past those negative feelings to a more positive place is liberating. My theoretical background includes Cognitive and Solution-Focused therapy. I am an open-minded, nonjudgemental person and will meet you where you are.

I am a clinical social worker practicing in the New England area for over twenty five years. I have worked with individuals primarily with acute mental illness and trauma. In addition, I have a significant amount of experience working with families and individuals who have experienced cognitive impairment, physical disabilities and medical problems. Dealing with issues of grief and loss, often accompanying mental and physical problems, has made me very sensitive to other’s needs. I have always had a passion for caring and helping others and now bring years of experience to my work. I hope to continue to to work with people, as they face life’s challenges and transitions, coping with the anxiety and depression, that often accompanies change. My therapeutic model is strengths based, often using Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). In addition, I utilize Person-Centered Therapy ((PCT) coupled with mindfulness techniques. Recognizing the unique individual differences, the therapeutic process will be determined collaboratively and what approach is best suited for the individual. My sincere, empathetic and engaging personality has worked well for me in relationship building and facilitating the process of growth and wellness. I am goal oriented and encourage clients to set their individual objectives and together we work towards achieving them. I am eager to be part of your life’s journey and together we will achieve fulfillment and joy that you are striving for.

I am licensed in Maine with 3 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with relationship issues, family conflicts, intimacy related issues, & parenting issues. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started! I came to the world of therapy the long way, following two decades of outdoor leadership, adventure group work, mountain guiding, and experiential education. I found many connections between my work as an outdoor leader and my work as a therapist. I believe the same principle used by leaders to help folks achieve their goals in the backcountry apply to our everyday lives. I feel I can be most helpful to those who accept being challenged and are working towards goals. When working with clients I combine the principles of experiential education with more traditional, psychiatric treatment modalities, such as CBT, narrative therapy, and MI. I believe good therapy should be safe but also effortful and aspiring to bolster personal growth.

I am a Vermont and Maine licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of experience working as a therapist, supervisor and program manager in community mental health and outpatient settings. I have worked with individuals, children and families with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, relationship issues, parenting problems, self-esteem issues, OCD and ADHD. I have also helped many individuals and teens who have experienced physical trauma or emotional abuse. My counseling style is warm and interactive, balancing humor and tasks in a way to create a safe space for you to explore, heal and grow. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. My approach combines client-centered, solution-focused and cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches, which essentially means that my focus is on you as an individual and I will adjust my treatment methods and plan in order to meet your unique and specific needs. Our sessions are for you and I want to make sure that you are able to get the most out of them that you can by learning and partnering with you on your journey to wellness. It takes courage to seek a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change by reaching out for help. I know that is not always easy to do. If you are ready to take that step I am here to support and empower you. I look forward to working with you!

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” (Joshua J. Marine) Everybody struggles with the challenges of life and everyone deserves a full and fruitful life. I am committed to facing these challenges with you and walking along side you to create the life that you deserve. I am trained in working with adolescents, adults, and families who struggle with substance abuse and dependence, depression, anxiety, postpartum anxiety and depression and personality disorders. I am also certified to work with those individuals who follow the Medicine Wheel traditions. Together we can meet and overcome the challenges that are preventing you from being the best you! Please email or call to schedule your first step on your new journey!

Hi there! I am a licensed clinical social worker with 7 years of experience, currently licensed in Illinois, Tennessee, and Maine. I have a Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Education from Illinois Wesleyan University. Much of my practice has been as a school social worker, providing therapy to students as well as support to their families, but I have been working with BetterHelp since April 2021. In my BetterHelp practice, I enjoy working with individuals in the college and young adult range, as well as folks in middle adulthood. The clients I have served have presented with a wide range of social, emotional, and psychological concerns including social challenges, anxiety, stress, family conflicts, and parenting challenges. I have also worked with people with different neurodivergent classifications such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and intellectual disabilities as well as other mental health disorders . I have helped many families and individuals who have experienced emotional and physical abuse, a variety of traumas, and stressors stemming from disabilities as well as financial strains. My counseling style is relaxed, yet attentive and compassionate. I have a strong belief that a therapist should be approachable and that the therapeutic environment should be an inviting setting, particularly for those who are newer to therapy. Throughout the duration of a counseling relationship, I value respectful and direct interactions and enjoy using humor to put my clients at ease. My clinical approach is a combination of the following: client-centered therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness therapy, solution-focused therapy, and trauma-focused therapy. Though I've received formal education and training in these different approaches, I value making therapeutic concepts and theories simple to understand and easy for clients to apply to their own lives. For whatever reason you are seeking out therapy, I am here to take the journey with you and I look forward to taking those first steps together.

Sometimes life is difficult. Life is especially difficult when we find ourselves dealing with situations, feelings, and moods that we don’t understand and don’t know how to handle, leaving us with profound doubt about ourselves and others. While we all have to deal with these challenges for ourselves, since we are human beings, we don’t have to do that by ourselves. In situations like these, the most responsible thing we do is to ask for help. I’m Michael, and I’m really glad you’ve taken this first step to seek help from a professional. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, with post-graduate training in various approaches to clinical therapy, including various trauma-focused therapies, cognitive and behavioral therapies, to fit a variety of preferences and challenges, figuring out how to move forward into living the life we really want to live. I have experience in helping people with challenges connected to moods, behaviors, relationships, parenting, and many other kinds of challenges that were holding them back from living the life they really want. My work experience includes child-focused family therapy, working with law enforcement, first responders, people adjusting to life after prison, people struggling with relationships, and people needing to process and resolve memories of traumatic experiences that continued to cause great pain and difficulty. My basic approach to therapy is called Reality Therapy, which helps to clarify what we really want and what we’re doing, to figure out whether what we’re doing is helping us get what we really want, and then to make adjustments to our thinking and acting that help get us what we really want. I also have been trained in a number of trauma-focused approaches, and primarily use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for resolving trauma and other persistent cognitive problems, as well as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which helps with developing a balanced way of seeing reality, along with skills to act more effectively in response to the various situations in our lives. I regularly draw from all these approaches to meet the unique needs of each of my clients, and enjoy sharing my clients’ journeys of healing and growth. I welcome the opportunity to work with you, and if this is your first attempt at therapy, I say you’re in for more fun than you could imagine at this point. Let’s get started at building the life you really want!

I am licensed in Maryland with 32 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, & depression. I also have experience working with coping with life changes. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process.

Hello! I'm so glad you are here! If you are ready to make some changes in life that are likely to result in improved mental health, improved quality of life, and general well being; you came to the right place! My approach in counseling is in general to look at the person as a whole; not as their symptoms of problems. I use holistic, solution focused, and trauma informed models to engage client's in the counseling process and achieve their goals. I have been trained in trauma informed approaches such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); which uses several tools to help client's negative past events have less emotional impact on their lives. I am also certified in a counseling approach called seed digging therapy (SD), which is developed off the therapy developed in the 90's called theophostic therapy. The premise of seed digging therapy (SD) is that each individual is generally mostly good, has a desire to be good to others, and wants to have a happy and productive life. The model states that a person's heart is a "garden" which in analogy has "weeds" and "flowers". Traumatic/Sad events tend to produce weeds and Happy events tend to produce flowers. Weeds in a persons heart can cause many negative reactions in life ranging from interpersonal relationships, self esteem, negative view of the world. Weeds occur when a lie is believed about that sad/bad event. Examples of weeds: not feeling adequate, feeling unloved, feeling a lack of importance. Flowers are developed when something happens that is positive/ good, and the individual believes something good about themselves. Examples of flowers: I do matter, I am important, I am loved, I belong in this group, family, friendship etc. The process of seed digging therapy is to find where the root of the negative thoughts started, and create an alternate belief opposite of the negative. Using narrative techniques, the person has the opportunity to recreate meaning if they want to. I am very excited to meet you, get to know you and help see you to the other side of where you want to be. If you would like to work more with me, we can talk more about your goals and what steps to take to get there.

I am licensed in Colorado, Maine, and Utah with 7 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, family conflicts, & trauma and abuse. I work with couples to repair trust, improve communication, and strengthen their emotional intimacy with each other. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!