My name is John Hamblin. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor within the State of Louisiana and I will have been licensed for over 23 years in May of 2024. I received my Master’s Degree in Counseling and Guidance from Louisiana Tech University in 1998 and afterwards completed the necessary requirements that the Louisiana LPC Board sets forth in order for individuals to become Licensed Professional Counselors. In my treatment approach, I often start with a non-directive counseling approach but am not glued to this avenue. I encourage completion of homework assignments when I feel it can be helpful to the client. I like to encourage patients to process their feelings through journaling, writing poetry, drawing, or any of their interest that may provide an avenue for them to release/process emotions and thoughts. I also utilize bibliotherapy, which is referring clients to appropriate professional materials for them to read/listen to, and then aid them in processing how the material may relate to their current mental health. I have worked with individuals ranging from age two to geriatric individuals as wise as age 100. I have provided services in a residential treatment facility for children and teens as well as a group home which was specifically for girls ages 12 to 18. I have also provided services for a psychiatric hospital setting which provided services for young children, teens, and also adults. Further, I have provided services in two different correctional settings which did incarcerate juveniles as young as 12 but also up to age 21. I have provided services to adults in both an in-patient and an out patient addiction recovery setting, and as mentioned earlier, I have provided services to adult and geriatric patients within a daily outpatient program where I encountered various forms of dementia as well as other mental health related issues. Areas of treatment that I have spent considerable time in learning about are possible threats by others to the safety and life of targeted victims, self-injury as opposed to suicide ideation, grief, depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder particularly as it often overlaps with self-injury behaviors, and also addictions counseling. Within addictions counseling I normally approach things more directly rather than in a non-directive approach and rely heavily upon the 12 Step programs and assignments to work with the individual.