Joe Whitcomb, M.A., MFTI
Psychotherapist and Executive/Personal Coach
I am a psychotherapist (marriage and family therapist intern) and executive and personal coach specializing in individual, couples and family psychotherapy, and maintain a private practice in Santa Monica and Pasadena, California. As a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern I am under the supervision of Dr. Curtis Miller and Joanne Weidman, MFT with La Vie Counseling Centers.
MFT Intern Calif. Reg. #54355
Prepare/Enrich Counselor ID#1216286
With over two years experience as a clinician, and a graduate of Pepperdine University specializing in clinical psychology and marriage and family therapy, I am currently serving as private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. Among my areas of expertise are marriage & couples therapy, depression, sexual addiction, anxiety, men's issues, relationships, premarital counseling, and executive and personal coaching.
I have experience and training in the treatment of mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders, posttraumatic stress, and interpersonal and work related problems. Among the many issues I treat are: relationship issues (within self and between God and others), anger, coping with death and dying, divorce and separation, premarital counseling, adjusting to parenthood, stress management and men's issues dealing with relationships, accessing emotions, the transition to fatherhood, and improving: honesty (to self and others), communication and connection.
I provide therapy for individuals and couples who wish to make changes in their lives and in their relationships that are long-lasting and positive. I offer safe, compassionate and supportive counseling in an atmosphere that deepens understanding and promotes healing and reconciliation. My style of therapy is active, positive, empathic and respectful of personal values and lifestyles.
In my work, I explore and validate each individual’s emotions and relational needs, and respond genuinely to them.
I approach the therapy session as a healing place where a corrective emotional experience can happen, and it is that process that is the method of therapeutic change.
The kind of therapy I do with couples is based on an emotionally focused approach known as Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT). When couples disagree, most repeat the following disruptive pattern: blame, criticize, defend, express contempt, distance, and emotionally or physically withdraw. Distress is not about how many fights you have or even if you resolve the fights. Distress is about how you fight, and whether you can retain some sort of emotional connection after the fight. While traditional types of marital counseling tend to be open-ended and seek to solve immediate problems, such as continual arguing, by focusing primarily on behavior change and communication skills, the EFT approach hones in on increasing a couple's appreciation for how each partner feels in order to build trust and a secure base they can each rely on. In this approach, couples learn to recognize the negative cycle they are stuck in, where one person criticizes and the other responds defensively or withdraws. Couples learn to identify the needs and fears that keep them in that cycle. They learn to identify and express their underlying emotions. Partners learn to empathize with each other and become more supportive of each other. Partners come together through the emotional needs they are each expressing, and can begin to comfort each other's needs.
Until a couple is able to identify, acknowledge and ultimately forgive injuries, an emotional gulf persists between them. No matter how dissatisfying things have become and how unhappy or angry partners may be, they each need to feel safe in coming together to work out their problems. Each partner needs to understand the emotions dictating their actions. The emotions behind perceived problems are the key to understanding each other.
- From alienation to emotional connection.
- From vigilant defense and self-protection, to openness and risk taking.
- From a passive helplessness in the face of the inexorable dance of the relationship, to a sense of being able to actively create that dance.
- From desperate blaming of the other, to a sense of how each partner makes it difficult for the other to be responsive and caring.
- From a focus on the other's flaws, to the discovery of one's own fears and longings
- But most of all, from isolation to connectedness.
Prior to joining La Vie, Joe’s professional experience included serving 16 years as a marriage and family ministry leader in his local church where he and his wife have facilitated Dynamic Marriage Seminars, lead small groups, children’s ministry director, and provided Christian educational programs. He has seven years of experience as the Executive Director with Sylvan Learning where he logged over 5,000 hours in family and academic consulting. He has experience in executive coaching in a private consulting practice and within university counseling centers.
In addition, he is trained and certified in Emotionally-Focused Therapy and is certified to use the PREPARE/ENRICH™ Program for the counseling of couples who are married or contemplating marriage. He is qualified to administer inventories and provide the couple with specific feedback about their strengths and issues. He has also been trained and certified in RapidChange Therapy™ to work with adolescents and families, group therapy, career counseling, executive coaching and development, performance management, and interpersonal, team-dynamics, and organizational issues.
Clients:
KnowledgePoints, Inc.
Sylvan Learning, Inc.
University of Phoenix
Apollo Group
Joe Explorer.com
MCI Worldcom
Mile High Adventures and Entertainment
TCS Entertainment
Anthony Robbins, Inc.
Idea Bridge
DeVry University
Pepperdine University
Getting Out By Going In
Mastery Learning Systems
Joe graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in neurobiology; a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix; a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University; and a Masters in Business Administration and Health Care Management from University of Phoenix, Spring 2008. He will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Neuro-psychology from Fielding Graduate University in the fall of 2008. His research involves studying adult attachment styles as it applies to marriage and couple therapy.
Joe is trained and certified to facilitate the 8-week Dynamic Marriage Seminars to independent or church organizations. For more detailed information regarding this course, please visit www.familydynamics.net.
Joe Whitcomb is a member of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT).