Zen Pathways

Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Men's Issues My passion centers around guiding clients throughout the journey of life while assisting them in the cultivation of their dreams, ambitions, and goals. My approach to treatment begins through a compassionate lens of “person-in-environment”, the idea that an individual, couple, or family cannot be understood fully without respect for the various aspects of their social, familial, temporal, spiritual, economic, and physical environments. I enjoy working with a variety of populations: late-adolescents, young adults & adults, LGBTQ+, and executive professionals dealing with anxiety, depression, anger, grief & loss, trauma, and life-transitional issues. I also embrace working with men’s issues, high-achievers/perfectionists, and healthcare providers. As an African-American therapist I hold a strong commitment to enhancing the quality of life and empowering people of African ancestry through advocacy, human services delivery, and research. In both my personal and professional life, I am cultivating a mindfulness practice. Practicing mindfulness has allowed me to intimately connect with the present moment thereby enhancing my relationship between mind-body, with loved ones, and with nature. I find incorporating mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral interventions including Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness Based CBT (M-CBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to enhance the therapeutic process by cultivating non-judgemental awareness, compassion, and purpose. I apply these principles to the therapeutic relationship by cultivating a warm, non-judgmental environment, allowing clients to feel safe in connecting with the most intimate parts of themselves so that they may begin the healing process. My therapeutic philosophy incorporates trauma-informed approaches to therapy. Often times out of necessity, survivors of trauma need to disconnect from themselves (mind & body) to survive the most difficult and horrific experiences of their lives. Using this lens, my hope is to assist clients in healing the fractures of trauma by re-establishing the connection between their minds and bodies. In my personal life I am a husband, brother, and devoted dog-parent to my, pitbull-boxer mix, Maple. Georgia has been my home for over 16 years now but I still consider myself a native Chicagoan. During my spare time, hobbies I enjoy include: coaching & playing lacrosse, video games, weightlifting, and caring for my Bonsai tree collection. I offer a limited amount of reduced fee appointments to clients who cannot comfortably afford to pay the full fee for services.