Pedro’s Bio

Prior to being a mental health professional, Pedro worked as a law enforcement officer for several years at the local and federal level. While working for the federal government Pedro was fortunate enough to live in several states within the United States of America and visit several countries on assignments. Pedro attended Michigan Stated University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Pedro obtained his Master of Arts degree in Forensic psychology. Prior to Argosy University shutting down Pedro was in the doctoral program for Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology. Pedro has a passion for traveling and learning about various cultures. Pedro’s family is from Mexico, and he remains proud to continue celebrating his culture and traditions.

Experience

Pedro has worked in the mental health field for three years working with first responders and military personnel. Pedro has attended multiple trainings and workshops to increase knowledge and understanding regarding Trauma and Stressor related disorders and Personality Disorders in children, adolescents and adults. Pedro has firsthand experience in the life of law enforcement officials and the negative consequences it takes on a person’s life. Once clients meet their goals in counseling, Pedro really likes to see his clients improve and meet their goals and sometimes includes coaching his clients to help them realize their future goals. Often children or teens may have experienced neglect or abandonment and they may need positive male mentoring as well.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Does the past keep sneaking up on you – whether it is in the form of intrusive memories, difficult sleeping (nightmares, trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep), experiencing emotions of guilt or other overwhelming emotions that leaves you struggling for air, a constant low-grade anxiety that keeps you preoccupied, or staying constantly busy so that you can continue avoiding people, places, thoughts or situations. You’ve tried all the coping skills and have been to therapy in the past and the coping skills worked temporarily, but you are still wondering when will the real change happen? You are asking yourself, when will I no longer need counseling to be able to live my life. Maybe you keep telling yourself to put the past behind you but that doesn’t seem to work either. You know that for trauma, you need something more—even if sometimes you still question whether what you went through really counts as trauma. As much work as you do to avoid it all, some part of you knows there’s something here you need to face head-on. So, let’s face this head-on together.

Questions for First Responder/Military

Being a first responder and/or in the military can be a rewarding career, however it comes with a heavy cost. Do you have trouble balancing/adjusting professional and personal life? As a result, maybe you experience problems in your relationship or family. Maybe you have experienced problems sleeping due to working the nightshift or coming back from deployments? Maybe you have been exposed to one or many high stress situations and unrelenting exposures to the worst days of most people’s lives, leading to potential mental health struggles such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Maybe when you have tried to talk to fellow coworkers and have heard the following responses: “suck it up.” “If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t be in this job.” “You knew exactly what you were signing up for.” It is comments like these that prove society has not always had a positive perspective when it comes to mental health counseling. However, we now know that that when individuals simply “suck it up” without successfully processing these difficult incidents it leads to increase rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, contributes to poor anger management and post-traumatic stress disorder. If you feel like have experienced these struggles, I am here to tell you, you no longer need to “suck it up.” Contact the Total Life Counseling Center for mental health counseling and schedule your appointment to learn the skills that help you take care of yourself and find the perfect counselor to support you through your journey. If you struggle with impulse control, counseling services can also help you learn coping mechanisms and techniques to manage your impulses in a healthy way, especially for young adults who are just starting their careers in these fields.

Certifications:

• Trauma and Crisis-Informed Care for a Diverse, Globalized World
• Gottman Relationship Institute Marriage Level 1 Trained
• Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems (MATCH-ADTC) supervisor.
• Personality Disorders Certification Training: Advanced Diagnosis, Treatment & Management
• CBT for Anxiety with John Ludgate Ph.D, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Intensive Training Course
• Terrorist: TRAP-18 as an Investigation Template Psychopathy and Violence Risk Assessment
• Workplace Assessment of Violence Risk-21
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy