Rechell Thomas

I have been practicing professional clinical counseling for over six years, however, in counting my prior military counseling career, where I was not working towards licensure, I have over 30 years of experience. At present, I am a retired Army veteran. I graduated from Troy University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 2013 and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Counseling and Psychology in 2016. My current certifications include Anger Management, Seven Challenges Substance Abuse Program, and a Shoplifting and Theft Addiction Certification. I am also a certified Mindfulness Based Substance Abuse facilitator, with extensive experience in working with both adults and juvenile adolescents. In addition, I also have experience with coordinating a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Unit at a large Juvenile Justice facility in the state of Georgia, where I also supervise the delivery of specialized substance abuse and mental health services. At present, I am employed as the RSAT Director in one of the largest mental health and substance abuse based juvenile prisons in the state of Georgia. In fact, this facility houses the Specialized Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Unit, due to the youth having to meet moderate to severe substance use disorders in order to meet the criteria for placement. In addition, many of these youth also have co-occurring disorders, which also requires my professionalism to also include extensive knowledge related to treating co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. In fact, in working within this field, I have learned that we all can share common ideals, beliefs and values that assist us in working towards our life goals. However, the commonalities in our successful approaches relate to the importance of developing and maintaining healthy coping skills. Unfortunately, some of us develop awesome healthy coping techniques while others learn to thrive on their survival skills. A philosophy that I apply to my life as well as counseling is taking the limits off! In fact, we create limitations sometimes by holding on to past hurts, disappointments, or relationships that no longer serve us, or we have grown beyond. I chose the mental health field because I like to see people prosper, grow, and reach their goals. What I love most about this field is that I am capable because we are all capable given the right mindset, circumstances, and application of healthy coping skills!