William Thuma is a second year Graduate student in National Louis University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Missouri in 2024 with a minor in sociology and additional certificates in addiction studies, multicultural studies, and neuroscience.
Therapeutic Approach
I believe in a therapeutic approach which challenges one’s personal biases and attitudes, seeking to make adjustments to maladaptive patterns of thought and behaviors, and building a strong catalogue of coping mechanisms and skills to better deal with life’s stressors. Therapy to me has always been about prioritizing honesty with oneself and taking time to appreciate alternative perspectives which can illuminate aspects of ourselves and others in new ways.
Having worked primarily with younger adolescents and kids, my focus is always on providing a nurturing and welcoming environment which encourages meaningful introspection and a willingness to share. Collaborating with one another, we can address and work through past traumas, grief, and other personal dilemmas and struggles. Particularly with younger individuals, I utilize play and art therapy to encourage an individual’s creative side along with holding tougher conversations surrounding feelings of anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms, and other difficulties one might be confronted with during those pivotal years of development. In older adolescents and adults, emphasis is placed on patterns of behavior, attitudes, and self-perception. I believe the most profound growth comes from confronting our long-standing biases and becoming more familiar with the role we play in our own lives, as well as the lives of others.
Therapeutic Lens
Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Behavioral, Person-Centered
