Randy Antigua (He/him)

When treating anxiety, my first step to addressing it is through thought processes. I assist my client with identifying the anxious thoughts and feelings behind it, then I begin to strip it down to its root through Socratic questioning and help my client become more conscious of their anxiety stemming from a core belief. Once the belief is explored and discovered. We work collaboratively to help change those unhealthy beliefs to healthier productive ones.

As a male, I strongly empathize with men’s issues and understand the stigma with men seeking therapy. When dealing with men’s issues, I spend a lot of time using relationship building techniques to get my client to feel comfortable and develop trust in our working relationship. My biggest emphasis with my male clients is building and maintaining rapport. Once we are in alliance, we can then start to explore deep rooted/suppressed thoughts and feelings they’ve been experiencing.

Many clients seek therapy for relationship issues. These relationships are not always romantic, sometimes it can be managing relationships with friends or family, regardless of what type of relationship it is, I help create relationships that feel productive to my client, sometimes that requires setting healthy boundaries, discussing and evaluating connections and bonds, attachment based interventions, and developing conflict resolution skills to manage dysfunction in the relationship.

I operate using a person-centered framework. Sessions are all about the client and what they bring to sessions. I remain attentive through their journey with the issues being presented in sessions. Using skills like empathy, compassion, active listening is all given to the client in each session. The client gets to feel in control of the session and I act as a guide and provide reassurance to help the client feel empowered and we collaboratively navigate through the issues being presented.

I utilize cognitive behavioral therapy in all my sessions. A lot of our issues stem from our pattern of thinking. These thoughts tend to get in the way of our functioning. This irrational thinking leads to the feelings and behaviors in which we act upon. In my sessions, I draw out unhealthy patterns of thinking and collaborate with my client to decipher these faulty thoughts, we then construct new positive ways of thinking that can lead to new actions and behavior.

In solution focused therapy, I keep the client focused on realistic desired outcomes. My treatment planning and questions are about the presence of the desired outcome. I connect the client to interventions and resources that could make the outcome a reality. I also spend a lot of time in sessions exploring the clients strengths in order to facilitate change and use their strengths in finding effective solutions.