Therapists serving clients in Belhaven, NC

Hello, my name is Bonita Hutchison. I am a Nationally Certified Trauma Therapist and hold dual licensure in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling in North Carolina / International Certification in Alcohol and Addiction Counseling / New Jersey Professional Mental Health Counselor Licensure and my License in California for Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counseling . Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio is where I earned my Masters Degree in Agency and Community Counseling in 1998. Over the years, I have learned that many people who come in for depression or anger sometimes have drinking, eating or substance use issues they are also struggling with or have used to cover up their pain. Each year to better serve you and provide the help needed to live and feel better I have continued to master additional skills to support your needs and recovery. These methods and approaches to counseling include Mindfulness, Couples Counseling, Psychodynamic therapy, Motivational Interviewing and how to improve Sleep Habits. My career as a Professional Counselor started with caring for children and teaching them to make better choices. I learned how I could help Parents and their children address challenges and barriers to success in facilitation of groups, individual and family therapy. After attending the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and earning Post Graduate Certification as a Drug Counselor in 2010, then my North Carolina License Professional Counselor (LCMHC #7953) credential and in 2020 due to the pandemic New Jersey Temporary Licensure (LPC # 010006) to provide mental health Counseling and Alcohol and Addiction treatment ( LADC # 014783) I applied recently to the California Board for Behavioral Health Licensure and Continue to hold International and National credentials to support you where ever you find yourself. In September of 2022, after over two years of temp licensure in New Jersey the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy issued my Permanent NJ license as a Professional Mental Health Counselor. I’m a good listener and educator that provides a warm and person centered approach to counseling that allows others to feel safe and supported in therapy. I work with consumers from all over the world and hold the IC&RC International Certification (ICAADC) to provide therapy and coping skills to better manage life situations as a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor. My work through mental health Counseling and as a Clinical Supervisor (LCMHC-S #S7953) in North Carolina is very rewarding and teaches me how to reduce your anxiety, manage depression symptoms, cope with ADHD, move past Guilt and Shame, process Grief and Relationship/Family issues. My Substance Abuse licensure in North Carolina (LCAS #2313) and California (LAADC #RA8620417) as well as Mental Health Professional Counselor in New Jersey (#37PC00850200) has allowed me to help people struggling with abuse, problems and explore the questions you have about relationships, eating disorders or emotions. Alcoholism, Mental Health and Drug Addiction do not discriminate and working in this field has allowed me to support and assist many people and families from a variety of cultural and spiritual backgrounds, races and relationship situations that were keeping them from reducing mental health symptoms, maintaining recovery or sobriety. I might be able help and I look forward to working with you!

Sylvia is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 10 years of experience. She believes every individual is different and takes a well-rounded and open approach to encourage overall wellness. She stresses emotional health is important to reduce stress and achieve a sense of balance in one’s life. Sylvia uses different modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfullness skills, and person-centered therapy to help guide you through difficult situations and implement helpful strategies in your life. She also believes operating from a client’s worldview perspective is best and helps treat individuals working towards healing, stronger self-awareness, and fostering healthy change.

My goal is to help others recognize and embrace their inner strengths. I believe that this is the key to wellness and healing. We just have to learn to trust ourselves and grow from within. I operate a 100% strength-based practice that is designed to help you find your inner champion. I will help you learn to deal with whatever life throws at your way, leaving you with the tools that you need to overcome future obstacles. I believe that counseling is a teaching practice, where you can learn strategies to promote your own wellness and healing. It’s an investment in current and future self. I have special expertise in treating symptoms of anxiety, providing you with a wealth of cognitive behavioral coping skills. I use a variety of techniques in my practice to meet your individual needs. I also provide counseling services related to OCD, panic, depression, grief, relationship concerns, gender identity, sexuality, self-esteem, body image, family issues, codependency, and trauma processing. I received my undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have a Masters in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I also have Masters in Conflict Management and Resolution from UNCW. This has allowed me to further deepen and hone my counseling skills.

Are you looking for a partner in your journey toward wellness? I will help you reduce feelings of anxiety and depression to achieve relational and personal well being. Are you open to collaboration as you look for effective solutions and willing to cooperate with implementing new strategies for living well? Then my versatile and creative approach to therapy could be a good match for you. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (NC and TN) with 10+ years experience in mental and behavioral health. As a marriage and family therapist, I am convinced that involving supports and exploring systemic issues can contribute to therapeutic success. I am committed to treating each client, couple, or family collaboratively and will work with you to identify which intervention or approach will best help you meet your identified goals. I welcome any opportunity to join with you in finding solutions to the issues that trouble you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Having worked and managed in the culinary, music, and security arenas of the restaurant and service industries for many years, I became acutely aware of the need for help for those in our society who weren’t able to avoid the pitfalls of alcoholism, addiction, and other mental disorders that make manageable living difficult, if not impossible. Since graduating and walking through the attainment process for my licensures, I have since seen the depths of the ocean of factors that contribute to the pain and suffering etched on the souls of so many of my clients. At times this pain is evident on their countenances and at other times only through their actions and/or reactions. Whether finding themselves in ICU, or detox, these brave souls have waded through rivers of stress, depression, and anxiety searching for their far shore. Not far behind this encounter can be the evidence of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or trauma. Add too many of these a genetic predisposition to alcoholism and/or addiction and it is as if the pages of their history have been doused with gasoline and set afire, at times, due to the use of substances. It is for this reason that I yearn to be present when clients are prepared to consider “peeling back the layers” of who they have been and who they have become. When the client can then initiate the process necessary to meet their true selves head-on and initiate the series of actions meant to lift them up and heal them, then I can be present to assist them in empowering themselves through education and the experiences of their peers to be present for themselves and others. It is in this way, that the client can then truly begin to be of service to others if they so desire. Statement of Clinical Philosophy Having worked primarily in settings where I facilitated intensive outpatient groups of short and long durations, I have always approached my group work with a strength-based approach. I see my clients as resourceful and resilient and primarily employ motivational interviewing, and cognitive-behavioral therapeutic techniques to guide patients down the path of their choosing. This path is theirs for them to discover who they want to be and to discover where they want to go from “here”. Due to many of my groups being comprised of mandated clients who are required to attend sessions in differing numbers, many times I would work with clients in as many as 20 sessions and as few as four sessions. Many times clients would present to me as if in crisis and I would find success utilizing Solution Focused Brief Therapy to assist the client find the motivation to empower themselves to continue reaching for a solution once discharged from my facilities at completion of treatment. Also helpful has been utilizing the Crisis Intervention Model. Very often, clients would arrive having been recently charged and/or convicted of a D.U.I. or similar charge. I then find out that the client is a survivor whose spouse had recently committed suicide, for instance. This type of particular client needed more help than what I could provide in that setting and it was important to connect that person with therapists and agencies which were prepared, trained, and able to assist this client with the eventual processing of their pain and anguish. In the meantime, I had to begin the process of using the seven stages, from assessing safety through developing an action plan and encouraging the client to follow up. Overall, whether it was mandated DUI/DOT clients, first-offenders, or methadone IOP clients, or even those within the locked confines of the Behavioral Medicine Unit at the hospital, I found that most responded well when their quest for sobriety was viewed through the lens of Social Learning Theory, within the group setting. As clients moved forward through the sessions, they modeled the behavior of clients who had progressed before them and who had achieved some measure of success. While applying these new concepts or techniques for sobriety the clients began to tailor them to fit their own unique journey, which assisted them in maintaining their continued sobriety. The newer clients themselves used these proven concepts to assist them also in achieving a measure of sobriety and then they also began to model it for those that came after them. Thus, a continuum of care began to assist clients as they first began and then finished IOP. In the meantime, relationships were constructed and a foundation was built. It was off this foundation, from which patients were able to springboard to a less-intensive schedule of treatment with a great degree of continued success. I look forward every day, to learning more from my clients.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with more than five years experience in providing therapy for individuals, couples, and families. My experience include working with a diverse population in regard to age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other diversity factors. I believe people have the ability to become their best self mentally, emotionally, and physically. My approach to counseling, therefore, involves genuine interest in your hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations in order to reach your greatest level of wellness and potential. I take a collaborative approach in identifying your specific goals for counseling and guide you toward them. I am a strengths-based therapist who utilizes the positive aspects of your life to build resiliency, restores hope, and open the door for new perspectives. I identify opportunities for growth and will challenge you in a nurturing and empathetic manner as you acquire and implement new patterns of thinking and behavior. My primary counseling modalities include Bowenian (personal growth and development), experiential, structural and strategic, with a systems approach, or the idea that a person is best understood by the contexts in with they live and relate with other people. However, due to the unique needs and circumstances of every individual, I will use different methods of therapy based on those needs.

We all need quality, effective counseling at times. I consider it an honor to walk with people on their healing journey, whether that healing focuses on trauma, grief, sadness, anxiety, relationship troubles, shame, addiction, self-improvement, or a host of other problems. Whether your needs seem small or overwhelming, if you are thinking about counseling, congratulations! Every step requires courage, and I respect yours. My approach to psychotherapy is integrative, drawing from psychodynamic, positive, person-centered, existential, family systems, and cognitive behavioral approaches. I look forward working with you to identify whatever approach you find most helpful. You do not have to know anything about the different types of therapy, though. You just need a willingness to engage in the therapeutic relationship. My goal is to help you identify what human flourishing means for you and help you find and use the tools you need to move into that flourishing. I have 12 years of clinical experience, which has ranged from working in crisis counseling, outpatient therapy, and private practice and includes working with a wide array of challenges such as major mental health disorders, grief, trauma, dissatisfaction, and working toward specific goals. I also have experience in spiritually integrative psychotherapy. Religious faith can provide vital resources for healing, and it can contribute to emotional or relational difficulties. I am committed to working with you in a way that respects your faith commitments (or lack thereof), including your convictions, doubts, and questions. Additionally, I am committed to critical awareness of how systemic inequities and aspects of personal identity such as gender, race, class, ability, and sexuality can affect one's sense of well-being and relationships, including the therapeutic relationship. As a straight, cisgender, white man, I am committed to the practice of critical self-examination and to developing awareness of the systemic factors uniquely challenging to those with more marginalized identities. Whatever brings you to therapy, I look forward to connecting and building a healing relationship that develops the beauty and power of who you are and who you can be.

I am licensed in North Carolina with 7 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with grief and loss, depression, & coping with life changes. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. It takes courage to seek out a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. I am here to support & empower you in that journey.

I am licensed in North Carolina with 28 years of work experience as a counselor. I have experience in helping clients with depression, stress and anxiety, relationship issues, career concerns, motivation, self esteem and confidence. I believe that you are the expert of your story and that you have many strengths that will assist you in overcoming things that challenge you. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process. A little about me...my doctorate is in Counselor Education and Supervision from N.C. State University (c/o 1999), my master's degree is in Community Counseling from UNC-Greensboro (c/o 1996), and my bachelor's degree is in Psychology from N.C. State University (c/o 1993). I have been in the counseling field since getting my first job in a private behavioral health hospital in 1993. Since that time, I have worked in both public and private mental health agencies, public schools, and as a director of a non-profit organization. Since 2002, I have been a full-time professor of Counseling at N.C. Central University (Durham), and I have maintained a small private practice during this time. I have always felt it is important to stay active as a clinician if I am attempting to teach others how to do it. My practice hours are a bit scattered each day during the week, Monday through Friday. I generally can respond to messages at least once per morning and once per afternoon (Mon.-Fri.). You can also book a live session with me ahead of time. Please remember that BetterHelp is not appropriate if you are in crisis or in immediate need of support. In crisis situations, please call 911, 988, or your local emergency services.

I am licensed in North Carolina with 17 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, relationship issues, & anger management. 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 sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!