"Suffering ceases to be suffering in some way at the moment it finds a meaning."
~Viktor Frankl

At Bridgetown Counseling I provide counseling services for couples, families, and individuals with a wide diversity of backgrounds and issues. For some new couples it is a matter of taking their relationship to the next level with premarital counseling. For others it might be the challenge of trying to figure out how to save their relationship. No client's situation is ever the same and they cannot be treated as such. This is especially true with the large presence of non-traditional relationships and single-parent/mixed-family households in our society. While these dynamics often provide strength and opportunity to those within the relationships, unforeseen conflicts and stressors often emerge without a clear resolution available. Regardless of your situation the therapeutic process allows individuals to gain insight about themselves and those in their relationships. In the end it's about creating tangible & healthy results in their lives.

Successful therapy requires a good fit between myself and the clients that I serve.To help facilitate this process I work toward establishing sincere, respectful, and honest relationships with everyone I meet. For most of the time this involves friendly and open dialogue while other times it might mean confronting the difficult realities of a client's life. Finding the balance between these approaches will generally forge a meaningful and authentic relationship between myself and the client(s). Potential clients are encouraged to do their own research about options in therapy, while therapists should be expected to be transparent in the services they provide.  Given the vast diversity that exists among individuals, couples, and families I have chosen to not embrace any single form of therapy to utilize with my clients.  As an alternative, I have worked toward cultivating an eclectic approach that provides me with many therapeutic options to best meet the needs of the clients that I am serving. 

At heart, my approach is systemic in that it evaluates a person within the larger context of their core relationships.  This most directly relates to a person’s association with their family and friends, but it can also be applied to the relationships associated with culture, religion, school, work, and politics.  Many traditional models of therapy have been built around the idea of determining what is “wrong” with a person.  In contrast to this I apply a strengths-based approach that emphasizes the positive attributes of a person as a basis for helping them derive successful outcomes in their life. Ultimately, therapy has to be about constructing and implementing solutions rather than just fixating on problems.  While not exclusively loyal to one particular therapeutic style I do tend to integrate elements of the following approaches:

~ Solution-Focused Therapy
~ Logotherapy
~ Cognitive Therapy
~ Narrative Therapy
~ Gestalt Therapy
~ Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
~ Existential Therapy

For those unfamiliar with any of the terms listed above you can click on the term to get a better understanding.