Paul Hembd

Hi! Thank you for taking time to read my profile. If you are exploring Better Help, it is likely that you are struggling with something significant in your life, pursuing self-improvement, and/or simply seeking an objective person to share your thoughts and feelings. Finding the right counselor/therapist who understands your goals and you feel a connection with is absolutely crucial. If it is not a good fit, you will not make the progress you are hoping to achieve. Therefore, I want to provide you with some information about me in order to help you decide if my experience, counseling style, and counseling/therapeutic approach is the right match for you. I identify as a cisgender gay white male and my pronouns are he/him/his. I am a licensed mental health counselor and have experience working with people from all different backgrounds who are addressing a wide variety of challenges and opportunities for growth. Much of my experience has been working with those who are addressing LGBTQIA+ issues, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, communication challenges, and life transitions of all kinds. The feedback I often receive from clients is that they find me to be caring, nonjudgmental, authentic, direct, and they appreciate that I provide practical tools with an appropriate sense of humor. You can expect me to guide you through whatever you are experiencing and assist you in learning more about yourself and the way you interact with the world. I have worked in several clinical settings such as an outpatient nonprofit agency, a psychiatric hospital, and university training center. I have experience in counseling couples, individuals (teens, young adults, and adults) and facilitating group counseling. I am a certified LGBTQIA+ competent counselor working with a wide array of sexual and gender minorities including providing specialized transgender services. As a doctoral student nearing completion of a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and as an adjunct professor in the counseling department, I have refined my counseling skills and knowledge by means of training, teaching, empowering, and supervising masters students preparing to be counselors. I utilize a person-centered, holistic, multicultural, and integrative approach in treatment. This means I begin where you are and tailor the treatment approach to fit your goals while being sensitive to how your individual cultural and intersecting identities impact your experience. I primarily use evidence-based techniques including cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused counseling. In addition, Bowen family systems therapy, narrative therapy, and the Gottman method. An integrative approach means that I select and apply a mix of therapies based on your personality, your overall goals, and within each unique session together. Collaboration is important-together we can work on establishing concrete goals and steps; adjusting as you gain new insights and tools. I believe you are the expert of your story and that you have many strengths that will assist you with enhancing your life as well as overcoming any challenges you may be encountering. My aim is to help you achieve your goals by providing a safe, authentic, and compassionate clinical setting with an individualized therapy experience. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and I look forward to getting to know you! Please let me know how I may assist you. Please note, a majority of my availability is during the day and some evenings.