Meet Joseph

Therapist in Washington, DC and online across Virginia and North Carolina treating trauma, anxiety and relationship issues. 

Are you tired of the impact that anxiety, trauma, and unhealthy relationship patterns are having on your self-esteem and quality of life? 

 Tired of feeling trapped in a cycles of depression, stress, and unhealthy patterns?

I am here to help. I am dedicated to helping you to regain your peace of mind and to improve your quality of life. 

I’m glad your here

About Me

I'm Joseph and I help individuals like you: People who want to find deeper and lasting change in their lives, and who want the extra support and help getting there. 

​I help my clients to find more confidence and self-worth, peace of mind, and achieve a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment in their lives by identifying and connecting to their innate strengths and healing resources.

I believe my client's are looking for deeper change and want to get to the root of their problems in the most time-efficient way.

I have extensive training in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), and integrate the approaches of ISTDP, Internal Family Systems, and Somatic Experiencing to provide you the tools and experience to resolve those wounds, anxieties, and interpersonal issues you have felt trapped in.   

How I work

I like to take an active and focused approach to therapy to help you not only achieve symptom relief, but to help you get to the root of your problems so we can help you find longer lasting change. 

​My clients have described me collaborative, warm, yet honest and direct. I like to provide feedback to you in the moment to help you gain a better understanding of what is blocking you from living to your fullest potential. I will always work with you from a place of compassion and encouragement.  

What are sessions like?

We will pay close attention to the interplay of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and how they manifest both in the session and in your outside life.

We will explore the extent you are able to be in touch with your emotions, how you express them, and what might be blocking you from fully feeling and being present with yourself and others.

We will work to understand how the symptoms you experience are often unconsciously learned patterns that were developed to manage your emotions and relationships in order to keep you safe emotionally.

After identifying these patterns and understanding how that manifest in your life and relationships, we will work on learning new ways let go of these patterns, and identify healthier ways to experience, process, and express your emotions and true self. 

​I have found thhis emotion focused and experiential aspect of therapy is essential to help you get lasting symptom relief, achieve deeper changes, overcome the effects of trauma, and shorten the duration of therapy.

Training and Education

  • Washington School of Psychiatry, 2010

    • Graduate, 3-year training program in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2006

    • PhD Counselor Education and Supervision​

  • Appalachian State University, 1994

    • MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling​

  • Appalachian State University, 1989

    • BS Psychology

License and Certifications

  • Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Washington, DC, North Carolina, and Virginia.

  • Completed 3-Year training program in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, Washington School of Psychiatry. 

  • Certified International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association  Supervisor and Trainer

  • Co-founder of the Institute of Emotions and Health, Washington, DC

  • Former faculty and Co-chair of the Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Program, Washington School of Psychiatry

  • Former Board member of the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association

  • Professor Emeritus, Department of Counseling, Marymount University.

For a complete listing of my teaching experience and publications, please click HERE

I like helping people. I find it rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling. I get to see clients change, grow, and become who they want to be by overcoming their fears, anxieties, past traumas, and letting go of unhealthy self-defeating patterns of feeling, behaving, and relating to others. There is no profession like it.

​I have 30 years of clinical experience and am a retired professor Emeritus in the Department of Counseling at Marymount University. I am a guest faculty member of the Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry and former board member of the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA). 

​I enjoy teaching psychotherapy, conducting training seminars, writing, and supervising counselors-in-training. I have published journal and book articles on counseling and psychotherapy, clinical supervision, emotions, and have been an active presenter at regional, national, and international conferences.

​For fun I like writing and playing music, cooking, gardening, and traveling.

My Background