Professional Personal Statement Without mincing words, I'm a very good therapist and I love my job. With 18 years' experience at 3 clinics and now in private practice, I've worked with about 3,500 clients of all ages with alll kinds of mental conditions. Trained at Harvard, Penn and CA State Chico, I've learned from some of the best.

To find out what you think of me, Call me anytime at (831) 454-8178 for a free phone consult, or e-mail me at jmh4@jps.net. Call me even if you're in crisis right now - whatever your level of need. You can also check my website at www.CounselingWorksSantaCruz.com.

I have remarkable ability to see through a person's upset to your wonderful spirit and strengths. I'm a great detective at identifying the core issues. From personal experience, I'm familiar with hard childhoods and "dysfunctional" families. I'm romantic at heart, so I want to see everybody work through difficult periods and come out shining on the other side.

I'm specially trained in EMDR, a marvelous approach to relieve the effects of trauma - anxiety, depression, bad memories & anger.

I'm committed to being truly 'present' with you during every session - by being deeply aware and caring. My job is to help you rediscover your true goodness, and to fine new ways to renew your bond, if you're a couple, or parent & teenager -- to find joy again!

Professional Experience:
I moved down here to Santa Cruz after retiring from a counseling agency up north - Butte County Behavioral Health. Over 17 years at clinics up north in Chico, Paradise and Oroville, I treated more than a thousand families, or about 3,500 adults and children. I've supervised and trained interns and counselors and worked with psychiatrists, MDs, RNs, teachers, school principals, probation officers, attorneys. Useful for couples in mediation, I've also earned a law degree, from the University of Pennsylvania. So I'm kind-of an elder in my field. I'm familiar with all kinds of mental conditions and all the leading therapy techniques.

My Personality:
Clients and friends say they like my warmth, empathy, kindness and honesty. Many have found me remarkably insightful – cutting through confusion to see the good person they are underneath. I think that's my job – to work hard to understand you and celebrate how wonderful you really are.

Professional Skills:
Technically, I use a friendly solution-focused, client-centered, strength-based, science-informed style, drawing upon neuroscience (Siegel), family systems (Satir), internal family systems (Schwartz), couple/partner patterns and the 'Imago' model (Johnson, Chapman, Gottman, Hendricks), mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn, Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh), cognitive (Beck) rational-emotive (Ellis) and cognitive-behavioral (Michenbaum) methods. I also draw upon my clients' spiritual resources for support, being myself a Buddhist-Christian.

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