This review includes my opinions of Richard [Rick] Curtis, LPCC…read more
I reached out to COBM for help with my long standing anxiety and depression. They returned my message quickly, and the receptionists have always been polite, helpful, and friendly.
I was paired with Richard (Rick) Curtis for therapy, and my God he has been a life saver. I explained to him my history (childhood abuse, nightmares every night for as long as I could remember, depression, panic attacks, generalized and social anxiety), and how I was currently feeling ( always feeling like something is wrong, or something isn't right, nervous, not sleeping or eating well, various psychosomatic symptoms).
By my third visit that man changed my life. I was (now unsurprisingly) diagnosed with PTSD and with that I was finally treated in ways that actually helped me, where other psychologists had failed. My nightmares are almost nonexistent now, I feel like I have more control over myself and my life, i'm not afraid, I'm more confident.
My first visit we established how I was currently feeling and the troubles I was experiencing, as well as what my goals were and what I hoped to gain from meeting with him. He introduced himself, outlined his education and clinical history (trained in EMDR therapy by Shapiro herself! As well as 40+ years of work with PTSD), and the different approaches we could take with my treatment. I was able to give him a brief understanding of my past, and he didn't send me off without first giving me multiple coping tools and exercises to use to manage my mental health until our next visit.
After that, I kept a journal of the nightmares I had for the next week, and when I brought them back he was able to find the common themes between them (i'm inadequate, I have no control), so we could dissect exactly how my mind works which leads me to act and react in the ways that I do.
We also talked through specific traumatic experiences that I could remember and he helped me understand why and how they were so significant in the long term to my mental health.
We have done a lot of cognitive behavioral therapy (so helpful), and also have done exercises to address my somatic symptoms- which was extremely stressful for me and he was very flexible and understanding when I expressed my desire to stop the exercise.
We have not yet gotten into EMDR therapy, but I'm getting to a point now where I feel like I might not even need it. He has been absolutely vital, if not the total life force, behind the improvements I've made mentally and behaviorally. I no longer feel like nothing but a product of the things that have happened to me. He has also been extremely helpful in helping me find better ways to react to things that happen around me just for existing in my family, and ways in which I can try to figure out what I should do in a certain situation if I were to come across it on my own without previous coaching. He has helped me see the world for how it truly is, instead of how my past taught me it was and how my mind interpreted it in an attempt to protect myself.
I was almost reluctant to post this review because I don't want him to have so many patients that it affects his availability! However, he really deserves credit for how great he is at what he does, and how much he has helped me.