As a psychotherapist, Dr. Smith specializes in treating clients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. He recounts that, “In my early years of practice I began to notice that many of my clients who were receiving treatment for a mental health condition also had a substance use problem as well.” Unfortunately, clients who have problems with drug or alcohol abuse are typically referred elsewhere; they often do not receive the treatment they need because of this.
With that in mind, Dr. Smith has expanded his focus to empower and inspire not only those with more serious problems, but also anyone who desires to live a more fulfilling life. As a psychotherapist, he utilizes state of the art techniques combined with innovative experiential processes to help his clients overcome obstacles to achieving personal success and happiness.
Dr. Smith now offers personal coaching and consulting to individuals and groups wishing to find the missing link to emotional wholeness. Combining his expertise as a healer with his passion for teaching, Dr. Smith can help to identify patterns of self-defeating thinking and behavior that impede success and happiness. In concert with his clients he will create a personal action plan designed to the desired results.
Contact Dr. Smith now, click here
Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Disorders: A Practitioner's Guide is a basic overview of current evidence-based practices for treating co-occurring disorders. Co-occurring disorders, also known as dual diagnosis, refers to individuals who have both a mental illness and a co-morbid substance use disorder. The literature suggests that utilizing an "integrated" approach to treatment, treating both disorders concurrently in a program with clinicians specially trained in mental illness and substance abuse, provides the best outcomes for this population. This book is designed to provide clinicians with the basic knowledge and skills required to effectively assess and treat co-occurring disorders.
This workshop is designed to help participants identify obstacles and barriers that may impede their personal growth and development.
It is an opportunity for the participant to look deep within themselves via a series of experiential and educational processes.
Participants will gain self awareness and develop a greater sense of their “personal power”. They will also learn new skills and techniques that may help them in their personal and professional lives.
Each participant will be asked to stretch themselves emotionally and physically during the workshop, but ultimately they set the limits on how deeply they are willing to go.
The workshop is an all day (9 hour) program that includes a series of experiential and didactic processes designed to help each person identify and uncover the “masks” that they portray to the world both outside and within.
On-line or telephonic counseling and coaching services are available. You don’t have to have a serious emotional problem to seek the guidance and advice of a professional counselor and coach. The people who may benefit the most from this type of service are those who are looking to remove obstacles to success and emotional fulfillment. This usually involves working together with the counselor/coach to identify behavior patterns that impair or impede growth and happiness. The process may take only a few sessions to resolve a specific problem or it may take longer if the problems are more serious or complex.
The concept of emotional wholeness stemmed from Dr. Smith’s work as a therapist. He treated many patients for mental illness, but had to refer those who had issues with substance abuse. He sought out training, education, and experience in the fields of both psychology and addiction, and learned how to properly assess and treat substance use problems in conjunction with the treatment of mental illness. This, for example, allows Dr. Smith to competently treat a person for depression, and treat that person’s addiction.
Dr. Smith soon began to notice some commonalities in the clients he treated for mental illness and addiction. He found that those who were addicted to a substance, a person, a habit, or a behavior use these external things as substitutes for internal things, which had never fully developed. Furthermore, he found that these internal things (e.g., love, approval, acceptance, trust) were not only improperly developed, but were also never adequately received as a child.
Knowing that love, approval, acceptance, and trust (the internal things) are the ingredients necessary for healthy emotional development, he began to help his clients gain these things to become “emotionally whole”, as he calls it. He began to see the pattern: inadequate emotional development leaves the person lacking Emotional Wholeness.
This concept, of Emotional Wholeness, explains why so many people seek fulfillment outside themselves, and in doing so become vulnerable to unhealthy dependencies. In extending this framework, Dr Smith found that a person does not need to have a serious mental illness or substance use problem to lack emotional wholeness. In fact, many people live an otherwise functional existence, but never seem to feel happy and fulfilled.
Let Dr. Smith help you to find Emotional Wholeness, click here to set up an appointment.
|| Back to Top ||
Fill out the form below to receive more information from us.
Dr. Smith is a California licensed psychotherapist LCSW#19868. He holds a doctorate (Ph.D.) in psychology and addictions as well as a Master’s degree in social work. He maintains an active private practice, as a psychotherapist, a coach, and a consultant. Finally, Dr. Smith gives back to his field, by teaching and mentoring new practitioners, as a professor of alcohol and drug counseling at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA.
As a psychotherapist, professor, and author, Dr. Smith helps people to empower themselves to a happier and healthier life. He has worked in the fields of mental health, specializing in the treatment of addiction for over 30 years. Because of his expertise he has been in feature articles by the local press and has authored the book “Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders: A Practitioner’s Guide.” Currently, he is completing a book on emotional wholeness and fulfillment.
Dr. Smith continuously engages in his own personal growth and development. For over 15 years he has been involved with the Mankind Project, an organization dedicated to the emotional growth and leadership training of men. With this organization he is a certified leader of “The New Warrior Training Adventure”, an intensive men’s training program. He credits his involvement with this organization for much of his emotional growth, and believes that if he is going to help others to become emotionally whole and fulfilled that he must also “practice what he preaches”.
LINKS:
“Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders: A Practitioner’s Guide.”
TELEPHONIC/COACHING LA
On-line or Telephonic Counseling and Coaching... Click here to read more