Am I the right psychotherapist for you? The short answer to this question is: not necessarily.
As a possible consumer of psychological services, you should be as diligent and cautious in choosing your psychotherapist as you would be in choosing your neurosurgeon. Always choose wisely the person to whom you open your heart and mind. In America today, there are many pseudo-scientific, pseudo-therapeutic, bizarre, and harmful practices being touted as "counseling," or "psychotherapy." So you must do your homework. You must decide for yourself whether mindfulness based cognitive psychotherapy is appropriate for you. This is precisely why I offer prospective clients a free consultation.
Here are some points to consider.
Many (if not most) of the therapists in the Denver area are not doctors of clinical psychology. They are LPC's, MSW's, LCSW's, CACII's, MFT’s, MFCC’s, MA's, BA's and a host of other such acronyms that are equally cluttered and frustrating. Here is an indisputable fact: therapists using any of the above acronyms are not doctors; none of them have received the highest and most concentrated levels of training relative to mental health and psychological treatment (helping people work with their minds and their lives). Does this mean that they don't know what they are doing? Not at all. In fact, I personally know several fine master's level psychotherapists.
It would be wise, however, to remember this: like all other professions (medical doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc), mental health professionals fall along a standard bell curve. In layman's terms, this means that the vast majority of mental health professionals range from above average to below average. Here is the relevant question: Is below to above average good enough for you and your loved ones?
Simply because there are more of them (their training is easier to achieve), the vast majority of the substandard therapists out there hold some type of limited degree (like a "certification," or a bachelor’s or master’s degree), and many times these degrees are from unaccredited institutions (online diploma mills, etc).
The overall point is this: if you are going to seek out a mental health professional, and if you want the best for you and/or your loved ones, why take a chance with someone possessing only limited (and possibly substandard) training, experience, and education?
I am a doctor of clinical psychology. In plain english, concerning the topics of human psychology and the creation of mental health, I have attained the highest level of formal education and training possible in our civilization. I graduated at the top of my doctoral class, and (like all reputable doctoral programs), my training in clinical psychology was accredited by the American Psychological Association. I have fifteen years of experience in working with and treating addiction, compulsion, depression, grief, loss, and couple's and family issues. I am a lecturer at the University of Colorado at Denver. I am a member in good standing of both the American Psychological Association and the Colorado Psychological Association. I am a published author, a public speaker, and a recognized authority on the topics of mental health, human psychology, and mindfulness based psychotherapy.
Above and beyond my doctoral work, I have spent the last decade seeking out and practicing with some of the finest mindfulness meditation masters in the world today. Much of my acquired knowledge of working with mind (from the wisdom tradition of Buddhism) has now been fused with the most effective techniques of modern psychotherapy.
Perhaps more important than all of this, though, is the fact that I have a passion for and a natural ability to help people work with their minds and lives. I absolutely love being a psychotherapist, and I am very good at it.