Welcome! I’m April, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in North Carolina. Congratulations on taking the first step towards reaching your goals. Don’t discount the decision you’ve made to search for help, because many people never do so. I see counseling as a partnership between the therapist and the client; I have the mental health expertise while you’re the expert of you! For this reason I’ll spend our earliest contacts getting to know you better. Choosing a therapist is a very personal decision and therefore, I want to give you information so you can choose for yourself if you’d like to work with me. I would describe my counseling style as warm, but professional. I love to use strength-based approaches as much as possible, also incorporating your values into our work. I find myself using an integrative approach, incorporating different theoretical frameworks and techniques that I will tailor to fit your needs. Two approaches I use most often are Person-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Person-Centered counseling uses a lot of reflection to help you process your thoughts and feelings, which is often the first step towards solving your problems. CBT helps us examine your thought patterns and whether they are helpful or harmful. If a particular thought is harmful that could trigger issues like a depressed mood, for example. We’ll work together to replace the harmful thoughts with more helpful ones. There are many other approaches to potentially integrate into our sessions, and I’d be happy to explain anything I believe may benefit you. I once read a quote online (source unknown) that rings true for me: “A counselor isn’t someone you pay to pretend they care about you. A counselor is someone you pay to teach you how to care for yourself.”