Gessica Searles

Hi! My name is Gessica Searles (Yearwood). I am a LMHC for the past 3 years but I have been working in the Counseling field since 2017. I enjoy what I do, so I hardly ever see it as work. It is my passion and I believe that God has given me this gift.

I completed my Masters in Counseling at Nova Southeastern University and did my practicum at the Miami Job Corps working with adolescents and young adults ages 16-25. I have also had the opportunity to work with elementary school age children through working with Kinderkonsulting & Parents Too, age range from 0-11. I have been able to work with adults as well as pre-teens-teens. Being able to work with a variety of age groups has really helped to broaden my mind and scope within counseling. Where I see each person as just that an individual, with individual needs, goals, feelings and experiences. We are all unique.

I have been MATCH certified (Modular Approach to Therapy for children). This is an evidence-based treatment program for children and teenagers dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma and/or conduct problems.

I believe that God cares about our mental health and I see how the bible and mental health goes hand in hand. This is where my Christian perspective and approach to counseling collide.

When working with people from different age groups and backgrounds, I first like to empower them. I want them know that they are the experts on their life, because they are with themselves 24/7. I am walking alongside them as they allow me too do so. At times I may take on a coach role or a guide depending on what is needed. I believe in the benefits of working together as a team where the individual is very much involved in every aspect of therapy from setting the goals and choosing the focus to the approach, homework and activities. I want the individual to know they have a say in their life and feel empowered to do so.

I believe that humor helps and makes things more relaxed and personable, so it is always good to laugh, smile and just let your walls down bit by bit.

I do pull from a variety of approaches which include: CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), DBT (dialectical behavior therapy), solution focused, narrative therapy to name a few. Which helps to make the overall approach a very person-centered one.

A general session looks like getting to know the individual, what their goals are, what are they looking for, what have they experienced before and what was helpful or not, just to help set the baseline and give a good reference t throughout to help with identifying and measuring progress.

Mental health work can be hard and sometimes it can be difficult to see progress so I like to give the reminder that it does not happen all at once but it is little by little and having the baseline at the beginning can help with finding the little positive changes that take place.

Starting with a check in where you can share about the challenges faces, lessons learned through those challenges and the blessings that were gain either through the challenges or that were also taking place while the challenges were happening. Homework is something I like to give as well for continued practice throughout the week. The homework is mostly individual led and based on what was discussed during the session.

I want that the environment/atmosphere of therapy for the individual is welcoming and open; where the individual can feel safe and assured that they can share and express themselves without fear of judgement. I want that the individual is reminded that they are doing hard work and it does not go unnoticed and that even on the bad and hard days, (which are ok too), they can see that they are still making progress.

The motto to remember is "one day at a time, one step at a time, and on the extra hard days one moment at a time." Keep moving forward.