EXPERIENCE EVOLUTION WITH THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH
The science of healing the art of doing it well
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"Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life"
Steve Jobs
Vision Statement - To make mental health palatable and enjoyable for everyone.
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Mission Statement - To make mental health assessable to anyone that wants to understand and change ones thoughts, emotions, behaviors and relationships.
Goal - To increase ones self sufficiency using strategies to help one change and heal their life.
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WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY?
Awareness, Insight, Change
The process of therapy takes time to yield results that are long lasting. The goal is to first build awareness, we cannot change what we do not acknowledge. Insight allows one to personalize the changes they would like to make within. Lastly, developing a strategy with tools to make change happen. Trusting the process is required.
MY STORY
I’m Dr. Crystal Williams, a behavioral scientist and licensed psychotherapist based in Beverly Hills.
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In 2011, I obtained my Master of Arts degree with a focus in Marriage and Family therapy (MFT). I completed my internship at Beit T' Shuvah where I learned how to work with clients struggling with dual diagnosis (depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar, borderline) and all forms of addiction (substance use, gambling, sex and love, criminal & gang engagement, codependency and internet). I learned many models for recovery including Stages of change, 12 step, Harm reduction, and Motivational Interviewing.
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From 2012-2014, I continued learning about substance use working with adolescents (ages 11-18) at a residential treatment center in Los Angeles. My experience with adolescents recovering from substance use led me to pursue learning more about eating disorders. I observed clients becoming sober from substance use but in some cases then began engaging in eating disorder behaviors (restriction, binge/purge or binge eating).
This phenomenon led me to working with the eating disorder and disordered eating population from 2014 to present. I have worked extensively with eating disorders and
have seen the impact of how the eating disorder infiltrates ones internal structure and ego strength. I believe the lack of authentic relationships play a central role in the maintenance of the eating disorder. Nonquantifiable concepts such as control, rigidity, obsessiveness and compulsion keep the eating disorder sustained. Research is unable to determine the exact cause of eating disorders. It has been suggested that a combination of genetic, physical, social, and psychological factors contribute to the formation of an eating disorder. I've worked with diverse clients that are men, minorities, adolescents, celebrities, gay/lesbian/transgendered and those with religious affiliation. In working with clients that struggle with eating disorders and substance use, I developed a comprehensive approach to healing and recovery that uses a combination of psychodynamic, CBT, DBT and Solution-Focused interventions. It is critical to understand the function of the eating disorder and/or substance use and learn skills to rebuild ones relationship with themselves, food and others. I am currently working with eating disorders and substance use full-time at a facility in Santa Monica.
In 2016, I obtained my Doctorate of Education (Ed. D) from Argosy University with a focus in Counseling Psychology. My research study and dissertation focused on the emotion of anger and how its intensity could be reduced through the act of verbal processing.
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