Mike Gentry, JD, LCSW 
"This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life." – Carl Rogers |
Specialized Training:
MY APPROACH TO HELPING I believe we all have the innate capacity to heal emotional wounds and change our problematic behaviors, and my greatest reward is to help you boost your ability to live a happy and purposeful life. My mission as a therapist is to help you find safety, security, well-being, purpose, and meaning; to live authentically, in integrity with your fellows as well as your own beliefs. My approach integrates "top down" (mind) with "bottom up" (body) interventions; that is, I combine a cognitive or thinking-oriented focus with a somatic or body-oriented, sensory focus. I use tools from several therapeutic approaches, including developmental trauma models (i.e., The Meadows model, NeuroAffective Relational Model), Somatic Experiencing, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, bibliotherapy, mindfulness-based interventions, psycho-education based on established neuroscience, and connection with your own spiritual beliefs. My approach is strongly influenced by my work at The Meadows of Wickenburg using Pia Mellody's model of developmental immaturity, which examines early life experiences and how these continue to influence our current behavior and relationships. I also use principles of Somatic Experiencing which focuses on body sensation to help clients gradually release traumatic energy stored in the nervous system, thereby improving central nervous system regulation, and leading to improved feelings of personal safety, security, worthiness, and wholeness. In addition, my approach to relational/developmental trauma is enhanced by my training in NeuroAffective Relational Model, which helps us recognize how current behavior patterns may be related to unconscious patterns of disconnection created in our formative years. SPECIFIC ISSUE(S) I'M SKILLED AT HELPING WITH My practice is primarily focused on helping people address relational/developmental trauma, family-of-origin issues, and the dysfunctional coping patterns that these create, including complex PTSD, depression, anxiety, addictions/self-medicating patterns, self-esteem issues, co-dependence and boundary problems, among many others too numerous to list. I also have significant experience with addictions and as a family therapist, helping family members and other loved ones who are in relationships with addicted persons. MY VIEW ON THE NATURE OF 'DISORDERS' I prefer a client-centered approach which focuses on the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that are getting in the way of you being fully present in your life. As such, I tend to limit the use of labels of disorders and diagnoses. Sometimes it can be comforting to know that your symptoms fit into a familiar category, and that you're not alone. So naming the disorder can be useful, especially if it points toward solutions that have worked for others. But you are not a disorder. You see, I believe all behavior is purposeful. Whatever someone is doing, there is a reason for it, even though it might seem illogical and cause a lot of suffering. It's my experience that such behaviors are usually just our attempt to cope with adverse experiences we've had in the past. My job is to try to help you find the underlying causes and conditions for the pattern you want to change, not to judge it as wrong or to pathologize your means of coping. That coping pattern probably helped you get through significant life difficulties, even if it sometimes caused worse problems. So, good on you for finding a way to survive! Now, if you've determined that old survival strategy is no longer working, or it's causing more suffering than it's worth, I can help you change. |
MY BIO
I am a counselor specializing in childhood relational trauma and addiction. I am a former practicing attorney who took an interesting career turn into behavioral healthcare, addiction treatment, and counseling. After retiring early from law practice in 2006, I went to work in wilderness therapy programs located in Utah and Colorado as a field instructor and guide for young people with addictions and related disorders. Then in 2012, I received a Master’s in Social Work from Arizona State University, and continued my counseling work at The Meadows of Wickenburg, a globally recognized program for treatment of trauma, addiction, and co-occurring disorders. I am currently integrating all of my experience and training into my work with clients in my private practice located in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona.
I am a counselor specializing in childhood relational trauma and addiction. I am a former practicing attorney who took an interesting career turn into behavioral healthcare, addiction treatment, and counseling. After retiring early from law practice in 2006, I went to work in wilderness therapy programs located in Utah and Colorado as a field instructor and guide for young people with addictions and related disorders. Then in 2012, I received a Master’s in Social Work from Arizona State University, and continued my counseling work at The Meadows of Wickenburg, a globally recognized program for treatment of trauma, addiction, and co-occurring disorders. I am currently integrating all of my experience and training into my work with clients in my private practice located in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona.
“We create the depression and anger we feel by demanding that the universe not be as rotten as it is. The reality is that the whole universe is not rotten nor is all of life rotten. Only certain elements of it are. Accept that along with many good things, bad things exist, change them if you can, and accept what you can’t change. Remember it’s your thoughts that create the way you feel. It’s practically never hopeless. Acceptance is the key.” |
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