JOE BOYLE
Pronouns: he/him
Work schedule: M - F
Therapist in Sacramento, CA
My approach for adult and teen therapy
“I learn by going where I have to go.” — Theodore Roethke
We all experience pain or disappointment at points in our lives. We may feel inadequate or insecure. Sometimes we come to a crossroads and feel unsure which direction to take. We may struggle with addiction or have difficulty maintaining stable relationships. Perhaps we have been traumatized or have suffered a loss that feels too enormous to bear. At these times, we reach out for relief, for guidance, for peace, for care, for self-love. This is where I come in.
I believe that every person is entitled to a functional, fulfilling life, and that everyone has the strength within them to seek this out. But we don’t have to do it alone.
A therapist fulfills many different roles for their clients: clinician, supporter, fellow traveler, consultant, friend. When I work with clients, I listen closely to their concerns and fit
the role most appropriate for them. I believe that the client is in the driver seat in their therapy. They are the foremost expert on their own lives. In therapy, I seek to promote the autonomy and agency of everyone I work with. I often place a focus on choices, habits, and decision-making. I also like to use humor when possible! I believe the therapeutic space allows us to model the fuller life we seek to live outside our sessions together.
I frequently find that clients have low self-esteem, or they become locked into unhelpful patterns of negative thinking and feeling. Here, I find it helpful to set aside judgmental language and preconceived notions, and instead look at the evidence. Almost every time we do, we find strength we forgot we had, accomplishments we too often ignore, evidence of a person deserving of self-compassion. I cannot promise each client that I will take their side. Instead, I do pledge that I will have their back.
my specialties include therapy for addiction, bipolar, trauma, and more:
Adults and teens
People struggling with addiction
Working with multicultural folks, especially those who are Muslim or Middle Eastern
People who struggle with self-esteem and self-image
Those who have experienced CEN
Individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, bipolar and other mental health diagnoses
People who wish to actively master what they passively suffer
Some of my therapy approaches:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Person-centered and existential therapy
Expressive arts therapy or projective approaches involving writing, art, music and bibliotherapy
Feminist Therapy and other approaches that focus on systems of oppression
Mindfulness
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
EDUCATION
I earned my B.A. in History from Kent State University, an M.A. in Creative Writing at University College Dublin, and an M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling also from Kent State University. I spent my Practicum counseling college students for 2 semesters at Kent State’s Counseling Center. After that, the Internship phase of my counselor education was 6 months as a trainee in a community mental health and addiction treatment center in New Philadelphia, OH, a rural, Appalachian region of the state. I became employed at this center doing part-time, telehealth counseling from my new home in Sacramento. I have worked with voluntary clients as well as those mandated to treatment by law enforcement. Some of my clients have been incarcerated during our work together, and I also have worked with the unhoused.
I am a registered associate professional clinical counselor in Sacramento
I am a Registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor (APCC) #10514 supervised by Danielle Kardum, LMFT.
More about me
I am from Cleveland, Ohio, and relocated to Sacramento with my partner and our dogs in 2020. I have a passion for cultural exchange and supporting multicultural folks, which developed from my experiences with the large migrant Mexican population where I grew up, from studying abroad with fellow students from Europe and Asia, and from many of my grad school peers who were international students from the Middle East and Asia. Through my wife, a Middle Eastern immigrant, I've witnessed firsthand the particular adversities, undertakings and joys experienced by migrants to the U.S. When I’m not working, I enjoy writing and publishing poetry, reading, playing the piano or guitar, cooking, hiking, biking, and taking care of the veggies and flowers in our back yard!
I identify as a cisgender heterosexual man. I have a personal history with depression, as well as strong connections to family members and friends experiencing bipolar, ADHD and trauma. As for spiritual beliefs, I identify as an agnostic but have great interest in, and draw inspiration from, a variety of religious and spiritual traditions. I have deep personal knowledge of Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, while my spouse and in-laws have a Muslim religious and cultural background. Finally, I enjoy bringing class, labor and capitalism into focus in my work, as I believe their roles in shaping our emotional health are under-appreciated in traditional approaches to psychotherapy.
Pronouns: he/him