I have over 20 years of experience in the mental health field. My Ph.D. is in Counseling Psychology. I have been licensed (#2512) to practice in Colorado since 2000. I have worked in multiple settings including inpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities, residential treatment centers for adolescents and children, College Counseling Centers, including the University of Southern California and the University of Kansas, and several hospitals including the Veterans Hospital in Memphis, TN, and locally with Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette and St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs. I have been seeing clients in private practice for the past 12 years.
My approach to counseling is typically informal. I believe the nature and quality of the relationship between the client and counselor may be the most important variable in therapy outcomes. I think it is important for both the client and the therapist to be as genuine as possible. I utilize Cognitive Behavioral and Client Centered approaches in therapy and believe that humor can have a useful place in therapy. I think clients find my approach to be both supportive and direct as needed.
With 20 plus years in the field, I have experience working with quite a range of issues. In general, I enjoy working with clients who are dealing with any sort of difficult life circumstance or transition. This may include relationship, family or workplace issues among many others. People who find themselves in the midst of some sort of crisis are also often excellent candidates for counseling. Sometimes a crisis or loss may bring a client to a point where change is not only necessary, but inevitable. Though often painful, these periods have the potential to lead to significant personal growth. I enjoy helping clients navigate through these transitions to achieve or regain a higher level of functioning.
At this time, the primary focus of my practice is on adult, individual clients. There are a few conditions and client presenting issues that may not be the best fit for my practice. These may include:
- Chronic or obsessive anxiety, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I seem to have more success working with anxiety that is circumstance specific, those who have chronic or obsessive anxiety, may be better treated by working with a specialist in this area.
- Long term opiate or benzodiazepine use. These medications certainly have their place, but can sometimes be over prescribed. Clients who use these medications on a long term basis can become dependent on them, making it difficult to address other issues.
- Eating Disorders. These disorders are usually best treated by a specialist in this area.
- Clients involved in legal cases should make this known at first contact. When I have taken clients who are involved with the court system, their attorneys often make requests for supporting documents to be used in court. This can be time consuming and take away from the focus on counseling.
- Clients who are seeking help with their effort to be declared disabled. Clients who are involved in the disability process often need supporting documentation from a therapist and my preferred focus is on providing counseling to clients.
- Clients with chronic pain issues, particularly when combined with opiate pain medication usage. There are therapists who specialize in chronic pain who may be a better fit for these clients.
In general, clients who have better outcomes in therapy tend to be those who are comfortable with the verbal and expressive nature of counseling and those who are motivated. Clients who are both patient and realistic about counseling also seem to be more satisfied with the therapeutic process. Issues that are sometimes decades in the making are unlikely to be resolved in one or even a couple of 50 minute sessions. Clients who are motivated though, can often make the most difficult life changes by simply being patient, persistent and open to the process.
Dr. Doug Smith