ROBERT E GANT

Primary Focus:

Child / Teen Counseling / Adult Adjustment / Life Transitioning Counseling / Communication / Social Skills Counseling / Consulting / Coaching / Family Counseling / Grief Counseling / LGBTQ Counseling / Stress / Depression Counseling / Anxiety / Panic Disorders Counseling / PTSD / Trauma /

Scope of Practice:

As a professional counselor, my practice is inclusive of a wide range of individuals (children, adolescents, and adults) as well as couples and families that come from various lifestyles. I welcome the uniqueness that each person brings into the counseling relationship. I am fortunate to have experience providing services to very diverse populations in a variety of mental health settings. When working with a client, I am ultimately headed towards creating a trusting environment that is conducive to exploring and decreasing emotional distress, maladaptive behaviors and increasing personal wellness. The instillation of hope is fundamental to clients in order to acquire the motivation needed to make change. I embrace cultural competency, and I am committed to understanding the importance of the client's worldview, which I believe is vital to the therapeutic process. I welcome the opportunity to assist children, adolescents, adults (individuals & couples), and families with issues that may surface in the cycle of life. Many things can bring a person into counseling/therapy. Children/Adolescents: Children and adolescents may lack the resources to manage transitions in their life. I work with children and adolescents to help them discover their existing strengths, find their voice, develop coping skills, modify unproductive behavior, and stress management. Individuals (Adults): Individuals may consider seeking help when experiencing distress of any sort, struggling with relationships, seeking tools to deal with stresses of daily life, or trying to define meaning in their life. My role is to create a warm, non-judgmental environment to explore concerns. Couples: It is almost a guarantee that any relationship will experience conflict of some sort. However if conflicts are not handled properly, the affects can linger causing disruption in the relationship. My work with couples consists of supporting healthy ways to communicate and reclaim closeness, while maintaining a neutral stance as a therapist. Families: Families have been known to experience conflict as a result of various reasons like parent-child conflict, parenting styles, step-blended family adjustments, and grief and loss to name a few. My work as a trained professional consist of assisting families understand each person's role, acknowledge each person's voice, and the affect each person has on the other in the unit.

Values and Philosophy:

I believe that every person has the desire and ability to live a more rewarding, meaningful life. However, there are times or episodes when those desires and abilities are diminished due to various challenges in life. The reality is that we live in a very hectic, complex, demanding society that generates difficulties in all of us. As a result, many people develop unproductive patterns that continue to keep them stuck. Coping with these difficulties can create distress and become overwhelming to manage. My belief is that everyone is an expert on their own life, thus each person has their own story to tell and posses the power to make change. With all clients, the goal is to create a supportive relationship that facilitates change and acknowledge obstacles that have limited personal wellness and growth. Unfortunately, many struggle with the inability to identify a trusted source to explore the many layers that may be impacting their life. Speaking with a trained professional counselor can illicit the support needed to examine, and reclaim the true essence of the individual, couple or family you would like to be. I believe the therapeutic process is a partnership that requires a collaborative and interactive effort between therapist and client. Our work together is grounded on bridging the gap between where you are now and where you would like to be. Together, we create an atmosphere that sparks your personal curiosity and a divine interest in self-awareness. Useful in the process is to respectively challenge clients while maintaing trust, as I provide clear and honest feedback. In my experience of working with clients, I recognize and honor the power of the therapeutic relationship. Change begins to happen when we build an alliance that incorporates, trust, identified concerns, vulnerability, active listening, established goals, flexibility, humor, compassion, and most importantly HOPE.

Techniques and Methodology:

The treatment orientation that I employ comes from a systemic perspective, meaning, I believe it is important to consider the biological, individual, family, school, work, cultural and other community systems that are impacting your overall well being. I remain flexible in utilizing a variety of techniques, theories, and life experiences depending on the needs of each client. My approach is strength-based, considered integrative and supported by my training in Person-Centered, Cognitive Behavioral, Solution Focused, Narrative, and Family Systems Therapies. Within this framework, I strive to assist clients in uncovering existing strengths that may frequently get overlooked. Throughout our process, we will develop healthy positive ways of reframing and managing obstacles, increasing ability to communicate effectively and developing the necessary coping skills for personal growth. There is no particular prescription for what therapy is or looks like. Depending on the concerns identified, our process together may be short and concise or the process may involve a longer journey of exploration. I encourage clients to "keep it real" during our sessions. I believe that as I attempt to bring my authentic self to the therapy or counseling process, it motivates clients to do the same. In order to provide a quality level of service it is imperative that I remain ethically sound and balanced in my approach. I participate in consultation and receive supervision on a regular basis. Your right as a client is that our work together is confidential and compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA), which became effective April 14, 2003.

MA, LMHC

“Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” ― Michael Jordan

DBA: Urban Life Therapy LLC

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Primary Focus:

Scope of Practice:

Values and Philosophy:

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