TL;DR: I’m an ex-Mormon psychologist with over a decade of experience helping people navigate pain and explore a healthy path through the complex shit that being human entails.

Therapy is a weird thing. Our best scientific research continues to confirm that it’s helpful, and I see that daily with my patients. We clinicians all have our own hypotheses but, 140 years post-Freud, we still haven’t nailed down exactly *why* therapy seems to help humans with their pain. There is broad consensus that it is most successful when patients feel a connection to their clinician. But other than that, findings are rather inconsistent.

I like to mention that at the outset, because it is hopefully a clear demonstration of my therapeutic style. I tend towards open and direct exploration with you rather than a meandering or passive approach. If I don’t know something, I’m not going to pretend otherwise. And if there isn’t broad scientific consensus about a technique, I’m not going to recommend it. I will both cry and crack jokes in session. I don’t require homework but I do encourage you to be trying new things between sessions. I will (gently) give you shit if you don’t.

Having been raised LDS and embedded in it culturally for decades (including being clinical faculty at BYU!) gives me both perspective and bias. I try to be transparent about the bias, and humble about the perspective. My experience in Mormonism as a cis-het white guy is not going to be the same as yours, even if you are also a cis-het white guy. While high-demand religion impacts most humans in similar ways, your experience will be different in important and meaningful aspects–especially if some of your identities are marginalized or disempowered.

I *really* like working with driven/ambitious folks and fellow therapists–I already tend towards a more collaborative approach (rather than a hierarchical or directive one) so working with high-achieving folks who are often “in their own heads” is fun and natural for me. My experience is mostly with individuals aged 18-60; I have little training with (and therefore don’t work with) kids or couples. I love woodworking, baking, and single-malt Scotch. I know fuck-all about sports.

There’s pretty good evidence that folks looking for a therapist rarely read past the first paragraph, so if you’re down this far, I’d love to meet you.