Brett Wilcox

Brett Wilcox holds a Master of Education and brings 25 years of experience as a mental health and substance abuse counselor practicing in Alaska. He is licensed as a clinical mental health counselor in Utah (LCMHC 335174-6004) and as a professional counselor in Alaska (LPC PCOP332).

Over his career he has worked with a wide range of concerns, including PTSD, sexual abuse, depression, anxiety, family and relationship difficulties, and interpersonal violence. He has extensive experience facilitating group counseling for teens and adults with focuses on substance abuse, domestic violence, and sex offending, and he also enjoys working with couples.

Coherence Therapy is his primary clinical approach. This experiential, empathic method aims to produce deep, lasting shifts by addressing symptoms at their emotional roots, often within a relatively small number of sessions. The stages of Coherence Therapy align with the process of memory reconsolidation identified by brain researchers, and that research explains how new therapeutic experiences can replace entrenched beliefs and behaviors.

Unlike standard cognitive behavioral approaches, his use of Coherence Therapy does not try to directly correct or change troubling thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. Instead it helps clients access and identify unconscious constructs so those patterns can be transformed and neural pathways rewritten, producing more enduring change. The method avoids labeling or pathologizing symptoms and focuses on resolving problems at their source.

Clients who have had lengthy unsatisfactory experiences with other therapists have found success and resolution in his practice within just a few sessions.

His counseling style is rooted in a belief in individual autonomy and agency. He aims to empower clients to reach their full potential by treating them as experts in their own lives and by minimizing the usual power differential in therapy. He approaches clients as a fallible human being able to empathize, particularly when clients struggle to empathize with themselves, and he avoids imposing his own interpretations so clients can discover truths from their own conscious and unconscious landscapes.

Treatment is tailored to each individual, and when between-session work is assigned it is typically as simple as asking clients to hold in mind the constructs that emerged during sessions. That practice often leads to surprisingly natural resolutions of problems that once felt entrenched.

If these ideas resonate, Brett is open to meeting for a few sessions so prospective clients can determine whether they are a good fit. Ultimately the client remains in charge of the process.