Hey everybody! My name is Jackson and I have the honor of joining the Pacifica team as a new therapist! I attended Mercer University for my undergraduate degree and then went to Richmont University for my Master’s in Counseling. I am excited to be back in Macon with my lovely wife, and equally thrilled for the opportunity to help others and grow personally. I grew up about an hour north of here, in Fayette County, along with my twin and our triplet siblings. Our family was very loving, and, as you can imagine, very chaotic growing up. I learned a lot about life from my family. Two of the biggest lessons were that everyone experiences different challenges, and everyone is worthy of love and compassion.
Growing up, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. However, as I continued my education, the ideas of helping people and psychology really stood out to me. As I learned more about my siblings’ experiences with ADHD, OCD, and autism, I was drawn more towards counseling. Experiences supporting both my girlfriend (now wife) and close friend through difficult times in college also grew my passion. As I learned more about counseling, I saw a great need for resources that support people across all areas of life. This has driven me to continue learning and practicing in order to help others through various circumstances.
While everyone is unique, we all go through trials in life. We all need community and love. We all need the capacity to heal and grow. To me, it has become very evident that counseling cannot be seen solely as a cure for the bad things in our life. Rather than just being an opportunity to get rid of negative symptoms, it can help to achieve a more healthy life overall. Our mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical health are all interrelated. Our capacity to address each category certainly changes with life circumstances. While our resources and needs shift, though, the importance of overall health does not. It is my desire to help others to prioritize their health and grow in new ways, as I strive to do the same.
There are a multitude of ways to help people in counseling. Clinicians can teach coping skills, help process emotions, and correct faulty beliefs or false narratives. I think all of these tools are valuable, and try to integrate skills and interventions from different counseling approaches. These include CBT, DBT, narrative, and solutions-focused work. However, I stated before that everyone is different. That is why getting to know each client, establishing a relationship built on trust, and walking alongside them is the most important aspect of counseling to me. That relationship IS the therapy. I know that it takes courage, time, and effort to commit to therapy. I also know that it can improve health in incredible ways. We all need support, and I am deeply honored by anyone who trusts me to provide that. I appreciate the opportunity to share about myself, and look forward to learning about those of you who I meet!
