ABOUT
Dr. Dixie
Hey! My name is Dixie. I absolutely love counseling and helping others learn more about themselves, while improving their lives. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, and Mindfulness techniques to help you learn more about your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, while joining you in the process of change. I will be active and intentional with therapy, and collaboratively set goals to develop a strong therapeutic relationship. We will work together to explore, address, and resolve your concerns. My job is to be a listener, facilitator, and guide to help you see solutions in your life.
I am a wife and a mom to one beautiful son, Brooks, and a dog, Rosco. I have a Ph.D in Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University and have been a counselor for over five years working with various types of client concerns, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and relationship challenges. I am a licensed Professional Counselor in the state of GA and AL. My husband is a hard worker and inspires me daily. My two children, Brooks and Rosco, are the lights of our life and we enjoy spending the weekends at the park, watching football, and making memories with family.
What is
CBT?
CBT is a therapy that combines both behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy to address maladaptive cognitions, emotions, and behaviors to elicit change (Ledley, Marx, & Heimbert, 2010). CBT has demonstrated efficacy for a wide range of psychological problems and is considered an evidenced-based framework with various clinical populations (Hofmann et al., 2012). Beck and Ellis, the pioneers of CBT, emphasized the idea that maladaptive thoughts contribute to emotional distress and behavioral problems which lead to the creation of this theoretical framework. According to Beck’s model, a client’s maladaptive cognitions include multiple components including core beliefs, intermediate beliefs, and automatic thoughts (Hofmann et al., 2012, Ledley, Marx, & Heimbert, 2010). Core beliefs are the absolute statements about self, others, and the world that are treated as absolute facts. Automatic thoughts are the first, quick thoughts that are formed in response to a situation and intermediate thoughts influence the direction of the automatic thoughts. CBT focuses on each category thought and how it affects emotional and behavioral responses. At the basic level, CBT works to change the series of events that occurs from a client’s situation to interpretation to reaction (Ledley, Marx, & Heimbert, 2010). Through collaboration and psychoeducation, clients learn the influence of the above patterns, which leads to insight and change (Ledley, Marx, & Heimbert, 2010).
