Dr. Thomas Davis, Psychologist

About me

I am Dr. Tom Davis. I have a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Duke University and am a Licensed Psychologist with 44 years of clinical experience. I practiced in the same medical facility for 35 of those years and treated the entire age range from age 3 to age 94. A major benefit of practicing at the same facility for all that time was that I often treated the same clients from childhood up through adulthood. It was not uncommon for me to have treated three generations of the same family. This gave me a rare and highly valuable vantage point regarding the long-term development of a client as an individual and as a member of their intergenerational family system. It also allowed me to treat adults in individual, couples and family modalities as they developed over the years.

In our therapeutic relationship, I view you as the expert and me as the professional. Your expertise is the wealth of self-knowledge and personal experiences that you bring to therapy. As the professional, my job is to help you organize this expertise into an actionable form that you can use to manage your life more effectively.

Over my decades of practice, I have honed a treatment approach that I find produces the most efficient and effective method of improvement. During the first session, I work with you to define the problem(s) that need attention and devise a practical, problem-oriented treatment plan to resolve these problem(s). We will focus on your thoughts, behaviors and emotions, in that order. In general, thoughts determine how you behave and behavior determines how you feel. When thoughts become more organized, behavior becomes more productive and both contribute to more positive emotions. I use homework assignments to make the best use of treatment between sessions. With child and adolescent clients, I use an age-appropriate version of the above treatment plan and include family members as helpful change agents for the child. The remaining sessions are spent working through the identified problems and other issues that may surface. The ultimate goal is for you to feel secure in your ability to handle current and future problems.

I have conducted psychological testing on over 5,000 individual clients. I have tested for depression, anxiety, dementias, brain injuries, personality development, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning Disabilities and clients’ ability to handle a variety of surgical interventions. Therefore, if you have had psychological testing, I am able to understand the test results and to provide guidance based on those results.

My overriding goal for myself is for you to end each session with a better understanding of yourself than you had when you began the session. My overriding goals for you are 1.) to gain mastery over your life that in turn enhances your self-esteem, reduces worry and leads to more positive feelings; and 2.) to have improved skills to deal with the ups and downs of daily living.

After each session, I send follow up notes that summarize what was covered/learned that day, what home work assignments were generated and what our future direction should include.

My office hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00 AM until 5:30 PM.

Specialties:
Depression
Anxiety
Panic attacks
PTSD
Adolescent issues
Marital and family issues
Geriatric issues
General adjustment issues

Professional experience

Additional areas of focus: Family conflicts, Trauma and abuse, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Sleeping disorders, Anger management, Self esteem, Career difficulties, Bipolar disorder, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Aging and Geriatric Issues, Blended Family Issues, Communication problems, Control issues, Family Problems, Impulsivity, Obsessions, Compulsions, and OCD, Personality Disorders, Phobias

Clinical approaches: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy

License information

NC Psychologist 0742

Reviews

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