Solstice is excited to announce the addition of Justin Martel to the clinical team!
Christopher is joining Solstice Counseling and Wellness in August of 2023 as a clinical intern in his final year of training for a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology at Divine Mercy University in Sterling, VA. Christopher has 4 years of clinical experience working in various clinical settings in Virginia and Washington, D.C., including private practice, community mental health, and schools, providing therapy and psychological assessment. His current dissertation research is studying the treatment and interfacing of shame and trauma in the body.
As a clinician, Christopher believes that a safe and secure therapeutic relationship is the foundation upon which to build growth, healing, and personal flourishing. He aims to take a unique and personalized approach with every client to help find relief, growth, and a way forward. Christopher works with adolescents and adults to explore many different facets of what makes someone who they are: motivations, habits, thoughts, emotions, and how they perceive themself, others, and the world around them. As deeper insight is acquired, then begins the gradual work towards emotional healing, more functional behaviors and coping, healthy self-esteem, and freedom from the things that hold someone back from living life as they were meant to.
Christopher uses therapeutic approaches that focus on psychodynamic and humanistic conceptualizations, and also incorporates techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Attachment-Based Therapy, and Mindfulness, as appropriate. He is also pursuing further training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for reduction of psychological stress related to trauma, and other sources of distress.
Christopher’s past clinical experience has included therapy with individuals with concerns related to depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD, OCD, autism, gender dysphoria, grief and loss, and self-harming and suicidality concerns, among others. Additionally, he provides comprehensive psychological evaluation services for concerns related to cognitive functioning, academic achievement, learning difficulties, socioemotional functioning, personality structure, ADHD, OCD, and other neuropsychological issues and mental health concerns.
In his free time, Christopher enjoys teaching himself new skills, including auto repair, gardening, cooking, and baking. He enjoys the beauty of the outdoors, navigating secluded trails on foot or by mountain bike, camping, skiing, and scuba.
