Juan Peregrina

I worked in social services for 14 years. I found that I enjoyed working with people and encouraging them to look at their struggles in a different way. That led me to enroll in graduate school for clinical counseling. During my time in social services, I kept thinking about how I could be more effective. Today, I'm able to be more effective as a therapist.

When I had the opportunity to work in an acute inpatient psychiatric hospital, I found that patients were often misdiagnosed. Many of them had OCD. I felt compelled to seek more information about their struggles. This led me to researching OCD, and I knew I wanted to develop my clinical skills in this area.

Major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and various substance use disorders. The individuals I had the opportunity to work with led me to focus in these areas. Our interactions motivated me to seek out a better understanding of the challenges they were facing.

You are not alone. You are not alone in your diagnosis, and you are not alone on the road to reducing symptoms. We are here to help and support you.

Sharing your thoughts can be a scary process. It can be worrisome to share with someone you are just getting to know. Know that we are here to help you. The more information we have, the more equipped we are to help you meet your goals. Think of it this way: You're trying to find a new restaurant in a city you've never visited. While attempting to find this restaurant, you're not given a map but have vague verbal directions. The more explicit instructions and information you have, the easier you'll find your destination. Therapy is similar. The more information we have, the better we can help you.