Professional Background

Texas A&M-5 years of one on one clinical supervision with expert faculty

Federal Prison System-3 years of one on one supervision

Army Medicine-2 years of post doctoral training at Ft Sam Houston with a focus on trauma treatment and performance improvement.

Army Medicine-8 years of practice with Active duty service members of all branches treating individuals and couples.

Private Practice-Since Oct 2020

Areas I am particularly experienced with

-Complex Developmental Trauma

-General Anxiety/Depression

-LGBTQ+

-Relational Concerns

-Non-Monogamy/Polyamory

-Religious/Spiritual Concerns

Treatment Philosophy

It is my belief that psychotherapy is an art based in and informed by science. The nature of the individual is so complex and unique that no controlled clinical study will ever fully capture the story and experience of any individuals who participate in it. With each person I engage in therapy with, I believe it is essential to attend to that person’s unique story and that persons experience of it.

Unfortunately much of modern therapy approaches are predicated on pristine clinical trials with participants who have very straightforward and singular difficulties. This is rarely the reality of human experience and even more rarely the experience of those seeking a better way of being through psychotherapy. As a result clinical interventions have increasingly become time limited, impersonal, narrow, technical, and manualized. It is my experience that this approach is often, though not always, disappointing for those who find their lives and difficulties more complex.

Much of therapy is finding a place of understanding and acceptance for yourself, of the pressures that shaped you, and fears that drive you. It is also about becoming aware of how you live and interact in your world and, with the freedom that awareness can bring, developing the ability to choose to live and interact differently. At the core of therapy is the relationship between therapist and patient. The therapeutic relationship provides a new emotional experience to work out new ways of relating and an undistorted mirror to see one’s self in clearly (for some people for the first time in their lives).

Psychotherapy is a profession like no other. People share the deepest and most difficult experiences, thoughts, and feelings with me in the service of improving their lives. I hold a deep reverence for what I do and the responsibility I have with those who allow me to walk with them for some part of their journey.

I look forward to working with you.

Jerrell Smith Psychotherapist LLC