Contact Kevin Kervick by confidential email or Phone 603 319 1035
Thank you for researching my approach. I hope the information below helps you make an informed decision about whether you believe we can work together.
I try to create a warm and safe environment to facilitate trust and healing.
My interventions are based on the best research and common sense.
I incorporate elements of many different types of therapeutic approaches, including my own relationship-oriented clinical development that I call Interpersonal Wisdom. State of the art research on the process of change and interpersonal dynamics guides my work. My approach also incorporates the fundamental principle known as differentiation, the ability to balance one's need for individual self-direction with one's need for communion with others. The extent to which people can sustain that balance determines their health and happiness.
The ethics of my profession require that I do not discriminate against anyone that approaches me for care, but prospective patients should know where I stand on important issues (below). I do not impose my worldview on patients, but my worldview does impact the way I view clinical situations and how I construct my interventions.
My religion informs my psychotherapy. I am a Pastor with the Universal Life Ministry. I started a church because I am concerned that we are living in a period of social, moral, and spiritual decline and I wanted to be different.
My lived experience is as a small town, traditional guy from humble roots. I am thankful for that upbringing and the values it imbued in me. Therefore, I am committed to helping folks embrace the time-tested ways of being that create a good life. That means I promote a character-based /personal responsibility perspective because I believe those values are pro-social and promote good mental health. I believe the post-modern ethos, with its coarse culture, screen time addiction, materialism, hypersexuality, dishonesty, entitlement, resentment, and radical individualism, is making some people sick.
It is now abundantly clear that excessive use of smartphones causes loneliness, anxiety, and depression. Adolescents are impacted the most. Therefore people must limit their smartphone usage to achieve good mental hygiene. I suggest limiting smartphone usage to one hour per day maximum, and to take frequent smartphone holidays.
In my 32-year history in the trenches as a marriage and family therapist, I have seen many things that inform my perspective (that may sometimes be at odds with conventional wisdom). Thus, my approach on some issues may be different than other mental health professionals and even the guidance from some professional associations. My belief is that if you disagree with my assessment you will get another opinion or move on to another professional that is a better fit for you.
These four issues below are examples of where my clinical interventions may be at odds with popular culture and conventional wisdom.
- My clinical viewpoint on relationships, sex, and sexual behavior is practical/traditional. My goal is to follow the research, the law, and common sense to help people make careful decisions.
- Even though Marijuana is legal for recreational use in some locales, my understanding of the most recent research, and my clinical experience, informs me that habitual use of cannabis may not be healthy for many people, especially young people.
- I have a low-tolerance perspective toward pornography because I am observing the negative effects of habitual use of pornography on individuals and relationships.
- I am concerned that our media, politicians, and some health professionals may have wittingly or unwittingly exaggerated the health risks of the COVID 19 virus, and in some cases that has created mental health problems for citizens. I follow the actual data on COVID 19 closely.
The following statement is important to some clients, so I want to be clear about where I stand:
My clinical experience tells me that the intrusion of postmodern philosophies and social justice remedies into the practice of psychotherapy has not been helpful for psychotherapy patients, couples, or families. I do not incorporate those philosophies and the associated ways of working from those philosophies that are popular with many other psychotherapists. I am part of an emerging coalition of psychotherapists who believe critical theory approaches do not belong in psychotherapy because they can increase a sense of victimhood (which is anti-therapeutic), induce neurotic guilt, and might lead professionals to discriminate against certain groups of people.
My clients are individuals, couples, families, groups, agencies, businesses, and other organizations. I enjoy getting to know people and I try to work hard for them.
I've been married to my first wife for 36 years and I have two responsible adult children.
How do we work together?
Generally, we have a phone or email conversation, and if the situation warrants we schedule a first appointment. I keep to a small caseload, which means I can usually schedule new patients within one week, and I can see people weekly.
At the end of the first session you either get what you needed and we say good-bye or we arrive at a plan for something more that might include a formal change plan, better use of natural resources, a referral to another professional, or a suggestion or two to try on your own.
Sometimes one session is sufficient to bring about your desired changes or to provide a new pathway to change, but if more work is indicated, you are then in a position to decide what is best for you. My approach is collaborative and never a hustle. I treat you with honesty, respect, and dignity, basing my recommendations on state of the art effectiveness research on the process of change.
If you decide you want to work with me we construct a working plan that becomes a guide for our efforts.
Contact me if you would like to move forward of if you have further questions.
