Pamela Poindexter

Greetings! My name is Pam Poindexter and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker located in Long Beach, CA. I enjoy assisting adults to reclaim hope and meaning, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, change addictive patterns, navigate relationship challenges, and manage life transitions by combining multiple empowering strategies gathered from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy.

My approach

I strive to form a therapeutic partnership that helps clients focus on their own unique wisdom and resilience, and determine their own needs, barriers, and options. Our alliance provides clients with alternative strategies, additional resources, and ongoing support that result in enhanced personal agency and effective change. I use an eclectic approach of techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy.

My focus

Due to our ever-increasing reliance on only ourselves, many individuals often carry burdens and stressors alone which result in anxiety, depression, substance use, relationship challenges, and an inability to skillfully navigate life transitions on their own. I help adults to understand how trauma and emotional/physical/psychological wounds have impacted their lives and encourage the implementation of a wider range of effective coping skills so that they may more fully embrace their own authenticity and find deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.

My communication style

It is most important to me that I create an atmosphere of safety and support in sessions where clients can show up with their true selves. My communication style combines passion, enthusiasm, and an irreverent sense of humor that connects with clients and offers them respect, warmth, empathy, nonjudgment, and appreciation of their diverse life experiences. I listen intently to what is revealed and what is unspoken. I then ask relevant questions as we explore further.

My journey to mental healthcare

With a myriad of personal experiences and varied career paths that included profound self-healing and helping others to make major life changes, I pursued my passion to become a licensed psychotherapist. It is personally gratifying to experience what Oprah calls "aha moments" with someone struggling to find their way. I am humbled to walk alongside those reclaiming their own path, as they gain more consistent insight, confront what stands in their way, and come to recognize and embrace that they are their own guide.

My goals for you

Together in collaboration with clients, we discover how they arrived at this moment, what their perceptions of their barriers and challenges are, what has worked for them in the past (and what has not), where they would like to see themselves in the future, and how they can realistically get there from here.

My first session with you

Creating a therapeutic alliance with someone happens over time. The first session is the initial step in building that foundation. I invite people to reveal as much or as little about themselves as they feel comfortable. When clients sense that I genuinely care about connecting with them and they are willing to participate, we make valuable use of our time together. We discuss aspects of the client's life, explore what brought them to counseling, what they hope to get out of it, what they are prepared to do, and how I can help.