About Matthew |
Education:Wheaton College, BA. 1994
Gordon-Conwell, MA. 2000 Over the years, I have received foundational and advanced training in CBT, motivational interviewing, PTSD and DBT. Member of CAMFT (California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists) |
I was born and raised in Indiana with several older sisters, and experienced several losses in my early life. I believe that my Midwestern upbringing, my family and my early life experiences all greatly contributed to the person I am today; I am often told by others that I have a calm and easy-going demeanor that helps them feel at ease. As an adult, I have been fortunate to live in several cities, including Chicago, Boston and New York City before settling in San Diego. These varied experiences have all been formational and have positively influenced how I view life, the world, and others.
As a young adult out of college, I actually began a career in education, teaching English and social studies at a maximum security juvenile detention center in the western suburbs of Chicago. After three years in that position, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in psychology, so I left Chicago to attend graduate school at Gordon-Conwell on the north shore of Boston, graduating with a Masters of Counseling in 2000. Following graduation, I worked as a therapist at an outpatient counseling center in Ipswich, Massachusetts before moving to New York City. In my 6 years there I worked as a family therapist at the Bed-Stuy Family Center in Brooklyn, and then at FEGS Health & Human Services in Manhattan doing assessment coordination and clinical case reviews. I moved to San Diego in 2009 and worked as Program Coordinator at the New Vistas Crisis Center, providing individual and group therapy in an intensive short-term residential setting, and then as a therapist at the Areta Crowell Center, an outpatient treatment center in the Bankers Hill neighborhood of San Diego. I also worked with the San Diego VA & UCSD Marine Resiliency Study, a long-term PTSD study with active duty Marines, conducting clinical interviews over a three year span. Over the few years prior to going into private practice, I worked as a therapist providing comprehensive DBT as well as Gender Therapy. I love what I do, and I feel very fortunate to have found a vocation where I can use my strengths to help others in their own lives. Outside of work, I'm likely to have my nose buried in a book or be spending time with my friends and family. |