Dr. Christopher Christmas

I’m glad you’re here. By considering counseling, you're taking a critical step towards healing and wholeness. Whether you have previously been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD or are simply struggling with changes in your life and relationships, I’m ready to help you explore what’s going on and take your next steps in the healing process. I specialize in integrating spirituality into counseling, men's issues, relationship problems, and treating trauma, depression, and anxiety disorders. As a Certified Shame-Informed Treatment Specialist (CSTS) and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) I have specialty training around trauma and shame.

We all have problems that need specialized help. We call a plumber when the house floods or a mechanic when our cars break down. However, when life pulls the rug out from under us we often keep it to ourselves and “press on.” There’s no time for a “life breakdown.” We reason that we should just know how to handle these life situations (even though we’ve never faced them before). On top of that, we try to conceal our troubles so that no one else sees that we’re struggling. When we finally address this inner turmoil we’re worn out from the original problem AND our unhealthy coping through isolation. It’s time to come out of hiding.

I have been working in mental health for over 20 years in a variety of settings from residential treatment to outpatient therapy in integrated primary care and traditional counseling practices. I am experienced in group, individual, couples, and family therapy. In addition to offering therapy, I am also a graduate counseling professor and clinical supervisor for graduate students and license eligible clinicians. My passions are counseling and educating clients, professionals, and students on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and improving mental and emotional wellbeing.

My approach to counseling is eclectic and includes elements of object relations, interpersonal, motivational interviewing, CBT, ACT, existential, person centered, Gestalt, and psychodynamic methods and theories.

In the first session, we will cover a variety of questions related to assessing different areas in your life. I will take notes during the session in order to begin with a detailed record.

The following sessions will be focused on the issues you'd like to discuss. Many times they will be related directly to your treatment goals, but sometimes they may be focused on recent life events. My focus will be on understanding you and helping you to better understand yourself before moving towards change. People are often focused on where they want to go (goals/destination) without much awareness of their current location, so to speak. That's like pulling out your GPS to plan a trip, but your location services aren't turned on. You won't even get directions to leave your own driveway without identifying your location. Sometimes I will assign homework to complete between sessions. We will determine what is useful and realistic for you as with homework.