Blake Blankenbecler, MS, LPC-MHSP (temp)

1.  Share about your practice and your specialties.

I believe the hard work of healing, growth and change can only occur in relationship. I create a place for people to wrestle with the gravity and delight of their own story. Through curiosity, compassion and honest feedback I invite clients to do the courageous work of telling their truth and living fully with themselves, others and God. 

It is through relationships that hurt, trauma and abuse occur. We likely don’t have to look too far behind us to name the pain that comes from being in relationships. The beautiful and maddening truth is that it is also through relationships that healing and change happens.

On a day-to-day basis this means that I meet weekly with my clients as we work hard to uncover interpersonal dynamics that may be blocking their capacity to be fully in relationships, begin a practice of becoming mindful about what they are feeling and experiencing in the here-and-now, and learning to give honest and direct feedback.

I specialize in eating disorders, trauma/abuse, spirituality, depression/anxiety, and women’s identity issues. I am also a group facilitator, creating space for men and women to further explore interpersonal dynamics and gain deeper clarity around their own understanding of their story.

2. What specific theories and modalities do you use in your practice?

I hold the psychodynamic and existential theories most tightly in my practice as I work from the belief that the things that happened to us before the age of 14 are directly influencing our life today and it is now our responsibility to make meaning out of those experiences and live from a place of integration. I also feed in Internal Family System work and Narrative therapy so that people can come to understand their story less from a place of shame and judgement and more from a place of understanding and empathy. The work then becomes unlearning the things that kept us safe as little kids that are now keeping us out of full relationships today. 

I specialized in play therapy while in graduate school and I often bring in sand trays and mandalas into my work. I love using sand trays with adults because a lot of their trauma memories come with somatic experiences and very little language. The reason being, the language area in our brain turns off while we are in trauma and little kids are not often equipped with language to accurately describe their internal experiences. The theory with kids goes that toys are their words and play is their language. Through play and using miniature toys and sand, they are able to externalize their experience outside of their body and are able to access parts of their brain that do not have language, promoting further healing and integration. 

I am also certified in EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing] and find that similar to play therapy, it is an exceptional modality for people to move from a place of disassociating their memories and experiences of trauma and harm, to integrating them into their larger narrative. I believe all people could benefit from doing EMDR around shame-filled memories of their past to be able to live in more freedom and wholeness. 

3. What tips can you offer colleagues who are looking to build their practice?

I am appreciative that I was around therapists who had full practices when I was just starting out who shared with me their best practices for growing a full-client load. The first was that it was integral that I meet with people in the community so that they can know who I am and the kind of therapy I offer. My first year, I made a point to meet with someone in the community once a month to share about what I do and how I could be a resource to them. I would often meet with campus ministry leaders, church pastors, fellow therapists, and people who were well connected in their communities. That helped to get my name out there and to become a referral source. Also, I found that writing blogs around the areas I specialized in became a great way to build my practice and get my name and work in front of the community’s eyes.  

6. Self-care is an integral aspect of being a clinician. How do you incorporate self-care into your routine and avoid burnout? 

I didn’t realize the importance of this until I was in my third or fourth month of practice and I would come home at the end of the week completely exhausted, lethargic and a sore excuse of a partner to my spouse. In the same way that a person grows endurance by working out regularly, I needed to grow endurance to see a growing number of clients per week. I hadn’t been making self-care a priority, was constantly checking my e-mail, and scheduling clients around their needs and not my own. 

The first step was that I deleted my work e-mail off of my phone and made a point to not check it on the weekends or in the evenings. I grew firmer boundaries around the times that I would see clients. I also began to practice yoga several times a week. Yoga has become the most healing and rejuvenating thing I can do for myself. The work of therapy takes a toll on a therapist’s body not only because we sit in chairs for several hours per day, but because we also absorb the energy and stories from our clients. Yoga allows me to release the energy in my body that is not mine to carry and grounds me back to my authentic self. 

7. What resources and books are you frequently referring to clients? 

It is not uncommon for me to refer my clients to Adult Child of Alcoholic Meetings or Codependency Anonymous Meetings and begin working the 12-Steps. I find most of the people I work with have not heard about the incredible resources that are found within these communities or they have a limited and somewhat skewed understandings of what they are like. I appreciate that these meetings are a free resource with low entry barriers as people from any socioeconomic background can attend. The investment of therapy is a high financial cost and I am always looking for ways clients can further their growth without having to break the bank.

Additionally, bibliotherapy is an important part of the work I do. I am often referring clients to read books on their own time. For folks with a history of sexual abuse, Dan Allender’s Healing the Wounded Heart is always a go-to. For people struggling with codependency, Boundaries by Henry Cloud is a great place to start.  And for my clients who appreciate learning about the science behind their trauma, I encourage them to read The Body Keeps The Score by Vessel Van der Kolk. 

8. What are you currently reading right now? 

I just finished reading Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F@$&. It’s a quirky, no-nonsense play on taking responsibility for your life, changing your values to not revolve around keeping other people happy, and living with vision and integrity. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to folks who are turned-off by the stale language found in some self-help books and need a good dose of tough love. 

Right now, I am reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark. She reframes darkness from being this scary, bad, sinful, to-be-avoided-at-all-costs experience to something that is actually filled with metaphor, for our good, and the place where we will find most growth and transformation. I highly recommend this for anyone who has become cynical around the Christian movements to “just stay in the light and be positive” and need to feel less lonely and isolated in their own journey of the dark.

Graduate University Attended, Degree, and Year Conferred: Lipscomb University, Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a Play Therapy Specialization, August 2017

Contact / Business Information: 

Sage Hill Counseling, Nashville Office

400 Overbeck Lane, Ste 202

Nashville, TN 37204

Phone: 615.499.5453 ext. 728 | Email: blake@sagehillcounseling.com