Find a therapist in Wesley Chapel, FL — covered by insurance

I earned my MA in Counseling from the University of South Florida. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC. I have been working with children, teens and young adults for 25 years. Everyone needs a safe space to refresh and become the healthiest version of themselves. My areas of expertise include helping clients who are experiencing issues with anxiety, depression, self-esteem, behavioral concerns, relationships and life transitions.

I graduated with honors from National Louis University with my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I received a bachelor’s degree in Special Education in 2013 from Walsh University in Ohio. I taught children with varying exceptionalities and learning differences for five years. I have over ten years of experience working with children and adults with autism, ADHD, and various learning disabilities.

I utilize interventions of various approaches to best assist my clients in accomplishing their individual goals. These approaches include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Person-Centered Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness Based Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy and Narrative Therapy. I am also a certified yoga teacher.

Drawing from twenty years of experience in education and principal of therapeutic schools, I have developed the art of conflict resolution with reticent learners, with parents, with couples and individuals. I have the skillset to support people and transform their perceptions of self to cope with communication issues, anger, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and trauma. My empathetic approach offers people to find positive and creative techniques. I am highly gifted in working to establish and enhance relationships between parent and child/husband and wife using conflict resolution to create opportunities. As a clinician of almost ten years, I interact exceedingly well with individuals and couples to support positive communication and achieve personal growth whether it be in a marriage, parenting/school skills, or within oneself. My understanding, compassion, and acceptance of people when they enter therapy create a safe and trusting environment to unpack problems and develop strategies that enhance well-being, stability, and alternative perspectives on how to address struggles/conflicts.

I have worked with clients from ages 3 through 80 and with individuals, couples, and families. With that breadth of experience, very little shocks or surprises me, and I am able to develop an individualized approach for each client, combining therapy modalities that play to my strengths as a counselor and that are helpful for the people I’m working with.

Three principles shape all the counseling I do:

• Counseling should be efficient. Counseling has significant costs in time and money. I think the benefits far outweigh the costs but when I can give you the benefits while helping you save on the costs I will do that. So I choose approaches to counseling (like EMDR and EFT) that generally work more quickly. That being said, I don’t want to you to feel better for three to six months and then need counseling again because we only worked on symptom relief and didn’t bring healing to the underlying causes. That doesn’t seem very efficient to me. So my goal is to provide as long-lasting and complete help as possible in as little time as possible.
• The client is always in charge. People are complex and come with years of history that I can never know all of. I know a lot of things but you will always be the one who decides what you want to get out of counseling, how we work towards that goal, whether or not what we’re doing seems to be working, and when we’re done.
• Change and health happen through relationships. The work we do in counseling will touch on how your relationships impact your health. No matter what you come in for, there are always relational implications of change and relational factors that contribute to whatever it is that you came to counseling to change. Change can only happen in counseling because of our relationship. It’s my responsibility to make our relationship a place where you feel heard and accepted.

I have been in the mental health field for over 10 years and have been counseling for four years. I became a counselor because I genuinely care about what happens to others and I want to help them through tough times. I have a passion for working with the LGBT+, ENM/Polyamorous, minority, and Kink communities. I am proficient in helping with issues related to trauma. I especially love to help empower the oppressed and the people who are made to feel "less than."

I am Dr. De Jesus Rivera, medical director at Self Improvement Psychiatry. We specialize in top notch, personalized, psychiatric services through telemedicine. I do a in depth evaluation without you feeling rushed. Together, we come up with a treatment plan that you feel comfortable with. We also have a HIPAA compliant texting system for easy communication and timely responses should any problems arise in between appointments.

I have a BS degree in Health Science from San Jose State University and an MSW degree from the University of Southern California. Yes, I’m originally from California. I’m a licensed clinical social worker in both California and Florida. I was first licensed in 2003. For the first ten years of my practice, I worked with children, adolescents, and families.

I have over eight years of experience supporting individuals whose mental health is affected by health and medical issues. Finally, I’m trained in Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).