Fact vs Fiction
Is Talk Therapy Effective?
Yes—when it’s more than just talk.
Therapy Shouldn’t Leave You Feeling Stuck
Let’s be honest: many people come to therapy wondering if it will actually help. Maybe you’ve tried before. Maybe you sat with someone who just nodded while you spilled your heart out—and left feeling no better than when you came in.
If that’s your experience, I get it. And I want you to know: that’s not therapy done well.
Talk therapy is absolutely effective—when it’s the right kind of therapy, in the right kind of relationship. It’s not about venting into a void. It’s about being met with real presence, insight, and the tools to create meaningful change in your life.
In our work together, you’ll have space to explore what you believe about yourself and the world around you—your values, your inner dialogue, your pain, your hopes. But more importantly, you’ll learn how to shift what’s no longer serving you.
Whether we’re working through anxiety, depression, relationship conflict, trauma, or identity exploration, we’ll use evidence-based approaches like CBT and REBT—therapies backed by decades of research—to help you challenge unhelpful patterns and build new ones that work.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy) aren’t just buzzwords—they’re some of the most effective tools we have in the mental health field. These approaches help you understand how your thoughts shape your emotions and behaviors—and how, with the right support, you can start to change those thoughts in ways that improve your life.
Therapy can work. Not because it’s magic—but because when it’s done right, it empowers you to reclaim your voice, your agency, and your vision for who you want to be.
But therapy with me isn’t cold or clinical—it’s human. It’s honest. Sometimes it’s even funny. I’m affirming, down-to-earth, and not afraid to be direct when it’s needed.
Many of my clients—especially LGBTQ+ individuals and couples—have told me I’m the first therapist who’s truly helped them feel seen, supported, and actually helped.
You don’t have to go it alone.
And you absolutely don’t have to settle for therapy that doesn’t work.
What Therapy Is
If you’re ready to do more than just talk—if you’re ready to grow, shift, and heal—I’m here to walk that path with you. Let's get to work together.
You won’t be lying on a couch, reliving your childhood for the next decade. Therapy with me is not about staying stuck in the past—it’s about understanding how the past shaped you so you can move forward. We’ll work in the here and now, with an eye toward where you want to go.
So many clients come to me after seeing therapists who just listened—politely, quietly—but didn’t actually help. Therapy isn’t just about being heard. It’s about being understood. It’s about receiving honest, compassionate feedback, and walking away with insight and tools that lead to real change.
I hear it all the time:
“I just need some advice.” “Tell me what to do.”
But real therapy isn’t about handing you a script for your life. If advice alone could solve things, you’d already be there. Instead, therapy helps you reconnect with your own voice—your own values, your own clarity—so you can make decisions that truly align with who you are and what you want.
Yes, I’ll offer guidance. Yes, I’ll teach practical, proven tools from approaches like CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy). But more importantly, I’ll help you evaluate what’s actually working for you—and what’s not.
You’re not broken. You don’t need to be fixed. You might just be exhausted from holding it all together. Or confused by patterns you can’t quite break. Or disconnected from who you really are beneath all the pressure, pain, or performance.
Therapy isn’t about making you into someone else—it’s about helping you reclaim who you’ve always been, beneath all the noise.
Especially for LGBTQ+ clients, therapy has too often been a space of discomfort—of subtle judgment, coded language, or feeling like you have to educate the person across from you. Not here.
I specialize in LGBTQ+ individual and couples therapy because you deserve a space where you don’t have to explain, apologize, or defend who you are. This is a space of full affirmation, deep care, and real partnership.
It’s a process of uncovering, unlearning, and rebuilding. It’s a space for clarity, courage, and practical change. It’s where you come to be seen, supported, and strengthened—not just heard.
You won’t leave every session with all the answers. But over time, you will leave with something better: the confidence to trust yourself again.
What Therapy Isn't
Online therapy and counseling services available in Texas, Florida, Connecticut, Arizona, Idaho, Georgia, Vermont and the United Kingdom
"Through my work with Brian, I noticed that he brought exceptional concern and care in treating clients. He also has a strong ability to be both honest and direct, while simultaneously being warm and inviting. He even brings great humor to any situation."
-- Nicole Patrick, Licensed Professional Counselor