Addiction and Substance Abuse Counseling near Saint Albans, VT

Biography: I am licensed in Vermont with 10 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, trauma and abuse, & coping with grief and loss. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. Let's begin by determining your needs, strengths and capabilities. They can and will pull you through whatever challenges you face today. I look forward to meeting you.

Biography: Hello and congratulations on taking this brave step of looking for help. My name is Dr. Nancy Kenyon Richardson, but I usually just go by Dr. Nancy. I strongly believe in the potential of all people to heal and move forward from trauma history, substance use disorders, and other mental health struggles. My passion is assisting people on their journey of healing. The course of my journey as a mental health professional has been two-fold. My master's degree is in psychology with a concentration in counseling. My Ph.D. is in psychology with a concentration in addiction and is research based. My research in successful recovery post-medication-assisted treatment (MAT) lead to an emerging theory on MAT as an aid to long-term opioid recovery without medication. I am a licensed clinical mental health counselor (LCMHC) and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor (LADC). I also hold several certifications including EMDR therapy and Dr. Gottman's Loving Couple's, Loving Children. My grandparents were all Portuguese immigrants who did not have the opportunity for much education. My lifelong dream was to complete my Ph.D. Of course reaching this goal was a wonderful feeling, but I am more proud of the 2012 Victim Activist of the Year Award I received for my work in the field of intimate partner violence. I am fascinated by brain science and often include psycho-education around trauma and the brain when helping people understand why they continue to engage in behaviors they wish to stop or why they continue to be impacted by past traumatic events. I have several years of experience helping people to move forward by identifying the "hooks" from their past that are holding them back from fully healing. I often state, only half kidding, that if I am still your therapist in 5 years and we're working on the same issues, fire me! Although I grew up in a predominantly Portuguese community in Rhode Island, I have resided in Vermont for nearly 30 years. My family and I enjoy travel and I have visited 49 of the 50 states. Our youngest two children are now teenagers so my spouse and I are beginning to explore what the empty nest chapter of our lives will look like. I truly feel honored and that it is a privilege to be trusted with the role of helping people heal from mental health problems. I look forward to being a part of your journey.

Biography: Hello. My name is Michael Knapik and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Vermont. I am also certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors. I have been working in the mental health field since 2007. (Before pursuing this career, I was a professional journalist for 30 years.) My orientation is to focus on a client's strengths, because I believe that clients are the experts in their own lives and that the role of therapy is most often to assist clients in fully recognizing and using those strengths. My approach to therapy is eclectic. I draw on resources and interventions from positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, emotional freedom techniques, solution-focused therapy, compassion-focused therapy, and family systems. I have experience working with those who are struggling with anxiety, stress, addictive disorders, grief and loss, end-of-life issues (I was a hospice volunteer for 16 years), depression, and self-harming behaviors. For today, my hope is that you have compassion for yourself. As Christopher Germer, a psychologist, has remarked: "A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life."