services at the warming hut

Couples Counseling:

This work repairs exhausting and negative communication cycles. It rebuilds emotional bonds and reaffirms the original attachment bonds in the relationship.

Read more about Couples Counseling

Family Counseling:

This work starts by determining the core issue in the family conflict. Using an understanding of the family's losses, griefs, roles, rules, relationships, structure, secrets, power, cohesion and adaptation to change, this work identifies solutions and articulates a roadmap for change.

Substance Abuse Counseling:

The premise of substance abuse counseling at The Warming Hut is that the opposite of addiction is connection. Addictions, whether they be substances (such as pot, alcohol) or behaviors (such as pornography, internet), are an escape from true intimacy. Unfortunately, the escape becomes an attachment that has rewired the brain. This work uses the classic theory on stages of change to move the addicted person off of denial towards relationship.

Christian Counseling:

For the client who needs an explicit Biblical foundation for counseling, I start with the treatment goal. Thinking Biblically about their life, marriage, family and community I frame therapy using Biblical concepts. The goal is to align the client's  life with Biblical principles.

Men's Issues:

An understanding, compassionate and nonjudgmental approach is the cornerstone of this work. Marriage and family reconciliation is the goal. In between is much emotional, cognitive and behavioral work. This service works best in conjunction with group therapy.

Workplace Chaplain:

A workplace chaplain creates relationships in the workplace that provide a safe place for employees to seek help with personal, marital and family problems, issues that rob them of productivity on the job. Creating this role within the workplace communicates very loudly that management cares.

Faith Integration:

Integration of faith is always by the client’s choice and is always in service to treatment goals. Since faith can an extremely sensitive topic, it is helpful for clients to know that, as a chaplain, I am ethically obliged to be nonjudgmental and nondiscriminatory towards persons of any faith or no faith. If the client desires this service, together we seek to integrate the faith perspective into the treatment.

Methods of Counseling:

The methods I use address problems in these areas: relationships, sexual addictions, substance abuse, addiction or dependency, depression, anxiety, anger, and other issues. I customize evidence-based practices to meet uniquely personal needs.

Change is a process with discernable stages. I help persons move from denial to thinking about change. Then talking about change. Then making plans for change, taking action and solidifying the gains. This is hard work but I can help you engage your own ambivalence and create solutions based on your strengths and values.

Results are more permanent if accomplished in the context of marriages and families. Some families are bent, others are broken. Together we repair, reconcile, forgive and heal so that therapy can end and families have take-home skills.

I focus on positive, future-oriented solutions based on strengths. While it is true that problems are often rooted in the past (and I honor that), it is also true that solutions can be brainstormed based on your strengths and what is already working in your life.

I believe every person, marriage and family has a purpose. This can be discerned by the values you cherish, your career or vocation, your philosophy of life or what faith animates your spirit. The work explores your purpose and aligns your behaviors, beliefs and emotions accordingly. If you can hitch your wagon to a purposeful star, you can avoid driving into the ditch!

In summary, my methods are a customized blend of working through change, family healing, strengths-based solutions, and purpose-driven work. As we work with these methods, and as the warmth and healing of the Warming Hut touches your heart, then we can write a new story for your life.

Treatment Orientations:

• Attachment
• Christian Counseling
• Coaching
• Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
• Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
• Experiential
• Existential
• Family and Marriage
• Family Systems
• Mindfulness Based Interventions
• Motivational Interviewing
• Narrative
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)
• Solutions Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
• Structural Family Therapy
• Trauma Focused