Hi There! Donald Stiles is my name, but my friends call me Donnie. I'm a former active duty Marine turned Licensed Clinical Social Worker looking to continue my life of service to others that I once held while serving our country. Now, I'm serving on a much smaller scale, but no less important. Every single person that I serve now as a counselor is just as important as when I was serving the whole, and I will do my best to show you that I sincerely mean that.
Do you want your therapist to be laden with "therapy speak" where it appears that they're performing professionalism? Do you want your therapist to be completely reserved and stoic, compassionate but boundaried? Well, that ain't me. I'm engaging, and I fucking care. This is gonna be hard, us unpacking your traumas and fears and anxieties...but it ain't gonna be boring. We're gonna heal, and it's not gonna be easy, but it will be fun and hard and rewarding.
You can expect me to try and make this awkward thing called therapy less awkward, for starters. I firmly believe that the therapeutic alliance is the most crucial component of therapy, and I'm going to come into our first session with sincerity and efficacy in the hopes that I inspire you to feel safe and courageous enough to be completely honest and vulnerable with me. We may not get there in the very first session, but you'll see the potential is there. Or not. And if that's the case, I want you to know that YOU are the priority, and if we don't mesh for whatever reason, that's your call. Give me an honest shot, though. I'll make it worth your time.
