Joseph Cataldo, LMHC

Have you tried therapy before and felt like nothing changed? Or are you considering starting and wondering if it will help? I specialize in experiential therapy for adults who feel stuck in repeating emotional patterns like anxiety and depression, relationship issues and conflict, or unresolved grief and trauma. My ideal client wants to change but unsure how to get there, or has tried and feels stuck despite their efforts.   Becoming a counselor was a calling for me. My first career was in business, but it wasn't fulfilling. That led me to counseling as second career because I wanted to help others more directly. I have experienced personal adversity and grown from it. I failed algebra twice in high school and later tutored it in college. I know what it means to feel behind and what it takes to move forward.   My approach is active, direct, and experiential. This is not passive talk therapy. I track what is happening in real time and call it out as it shows up. If you shift away from something important, minimize, or stay in your head, we slow it down and work through it in the moment.   We will use role play, role reversal, and reenactment to step into the patterns that keep repeating. Instead of just understanding your reactions, you will experience them as they happen and practice doing something different. The focus is helping you face, regulate, and use your emotions so they stop being something you battle and become something that actually guides you.   As a counselor, I am not interested in keeping you in therapy longer than necessary. I am interested in helping you make meaningful changes that carry outside the session. I will meet you where you are at, but I will also push you so you do not stay stuck in the same patterns with me.   If you are looking for a place to vent without change, I am not the right fit. If you are ready for focused, results-driven work that creates real movement, reach out by call, text, or through the contact form and we can get started.