Joe focuses on building on the strengths of his clients and creating a feeling of acceptance in the therapy space. He uses Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients reprocess traumatic events to increase their capabilities and sense of self-worth. A person’s past does not have to define their future. Joe uses EMDR to facilitate clients experiencing the past while feeling safe in the present to reach a place of acceptance and closure. He uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to recognize, explore, and validate the emotions clients are feeling, acknowledge those emotions and their purpose, and process how those emotions are serving the client in the present. With four years of experience in community mental health at Haymarket Center and Thresholds, Joe has helped many clients heal feelings of grief, guilt, anger, and shame.

 

Joe believes that all change happens through the client, and that his role is to facilitate that change by identifying the client’s innate strengths. He achieves this with an empowerment model. People already possess their own capacity to adaptively process information. Therapy can help clients restart that process when stuck to move through disturbing experiences and find self-worth, empowerment, belonging, and an increased sense of safety. Joe uses a person-in-environment lens to holistically understand a client. He recognizes that a person’s experiences are a result of them as an individual and the context they live in. This requires examining those external bonds, the environment clients are navigating, and systems of oppression disrupting daily life. Joe strives to build a strong relationship with clients through compassion, humor, and transparency, while using his calm presence to provide a nonjudgmental space where clients can be free to express themselves.

 

Joe has experience with and values clients of different backgrounds, be they race, ethnicity, gender, religion, economic background, and/or ability status. As an LGBTQ+ ally, Joe welcomes clients across the gender and sexual orientation spectrum. Joe practices cultural humility, believing as clients are their own agents of change, their cultural experiences are valuable strengths for the therapy process.