I went here during a rough patch in my life. I had referrals from other centers when I was seeking counseling and they thought this would be a good match for me. So I tried it. I talked with the intake counselor who interviewed me extensively. She initially picked someone for me whom I didn't think would be a good fit. So then she referred me to another counselor at the center. She gave my info to the counselor who would contact me to set up an appointment. I got an appointment within a few days of the initial intake interview
I go there and it's in a beautiful tree-lined residential area, just off a major road. Let's just say that this place looks like a fine old (nicely remodeled) house. It's very comfy, that atmosphere was charming, and I felt great going here--instead of a place that reminds you of a hospital or office. There are a mix of licensed and unlicensed trainees working on their license counselors here. And a lot of variety of counselors, old, young, men, women, from my cursory observation. I suppose that's important for those who'd feel more comfortable with someone from a particular background.
My counselor was Larry Johnson. He was very perceptive, you can tell very experienced, and was really helpful and helping me sort through all my thousands of thoughts and directing me towards the right direction of where I wanted to go, despite SO MANY THINGS I was going through. I threw a lot at him, but he didn't pretend to understand everything (like others would *eye roll*), he just focused on what was happening with me and what I perhaps needed to do for myself in order to achieve a certain result that I wanted for myself. He was very non-judgemental and skilled at guiding me towards certain realizations or making me aware of different perspectives or possibilities that he noticed that I perhaps I didn't realize and needed to be made aware of as far as helping me to gain a better perspective of my situation--where a lot was going on. I had a lot going on my mind and with his guidance he helped me sort through all my thoughts and emotions, and help self-direct myself in a positive direction. He was perceptive enough to comment on things that he noticed and it helped me reach a better level of understanding of myself. I left every session, feeling like a new level of progress was reached as far as surviving my then very problem-filled life. This did not start to happen for me until the second session with him. The first session, he was just getting a jist of what was going on with me, and he got all the info out of me. He was very non-judgemental and non-rushing and that really helped me feel at ease at freely expressing myself and giving him all the gory details of what I was going through, which definitely helped him help me in later sessions.
There were a few other counselors at other places I went through ranging from Psy D to gurus, and some just didn't get it, were going off on tangents that didn't really help me, or were doling out definitions / diagnoses / or some crazy clinical stuff that I just didn't care for, were racing to try to judge me or figure me out by "throwing darts at the board and hoping they hit something" when they just couldn't and giving me advice that i didn't need. Made me feel like I just talked and nothing was accomplished.
So anyway, my experience with this place was great, and my counselor was very helpful for me. He helped guide me through and lead me out of probably the most difficult time in my life. Thank you Larry. :) read more