Finding Your
Path Forward
Trauma-informed counseling in Hoover, Alabama, in-person and by telehealth, for people working through anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and addiction.
Stuck and exhausted?
People who sit down in my office often say the same words. When I ask what it’s like to repeat the same patterns, they say they are “exhausted.” And they quickly follow it up with “I feel stuck.” They have tried a variety of ways to get unstuck: read books, talked to friends, searched for fixes online, asked their pastor, or even met with a counselor. But when no lasting change takes place, they begin to ask themselves: What’s wrong with me?
Here is what I believe. Nothing is wrong with you. The strategies you are using were built to keep you safe and they did their job. They are still standing guard long after the danger has passed. That is where we begin.
The ways you cope kept you safe as a child
Together we explore what those coping strategies have been protecting
For many who have experienced early relational wounding, there is a feeling of disconnection and lack of aliveness. Some of us became what others wanted us to be. Many of us found ways of self-soothing through food, addictive substances, work, sex, or shopping. These protective strategies once kept us safe by creating distance from emotional pain and disconnection from our bodies. Now they tend to create more suffering.
Healing is the journey back into relationship with your authentic self: understanding the good intentions of your survival strategies and tending to the old wounds underneath them.
People Come to Me Weighed Down with Different Struggles
In my experience, most of our struggles grow from the same root: the ways we adapted early in life. Anxiety and depression may be the outworking of an environment that was unable to meet us where we were. Addiction may be how we coped with uncomfortable feelings that showed up in our bodies and in our emotions. And those adaptive patterns now show up in various ways in our most important relationships.
What I can help with:
- Developmental Trauma / complex PTSD
- Addiction
- Anxiety / Depression
- Grief / Loss
- Relationship Issues
As we work together, my desire is to support you to:
- Slow down and engage your heart
- Create space to explore your inner world
- Bring curiosity and kindness to the strategies you have used to survive
- Safely address old wounds that still impact your life
- Increase your capacity to be present with difficult emotions
- Reconnect with your authentic self and who you were created to be
I see clients in person at my office in Hoover and by telehealth.
My license is with the state of Alabama, so I work with Alabama residents. I work with individuals and with couples who want to grow their relationship.
Todd D. Gothard, M.Div., M.Ed., LPC
Certified NARM® Master Therapist
“It is true that we are called to create a better world. But we are first of all called to a more immediate and exalted task: that of creating our own lives.”
Thomas Merton
You can ask questions first
Reaching out here starts a conversation. It doesn’t create a counseling relationship until we’ve met and agreed to work together.
A free conversation
I set aside time every day for a free initial consultation. It’s a chance to ask anything you want to ask, hear how I work, and get a feel for whether this is the right fit. It commits you to nothing. You’ll leave with clarity either way.
Start with an email
If writing feels easier than talking, just send me a message. I read and respond to every email personally.
Prefer a phone call?
Call me at (205) 480-6020 and leave a voicemail with your name and a good time to reach you. I return every call myself and we will find a time to talk.
Ready to take the next step?
This button opens my secure client portal. From there you can schedule a free consultation or a first session at a time that works for you. If you want to know how it all works first, the What to Expect page walks you through the first session step by step.