I committed dozens of felonies. Ended up convicted of thirteen. Crimes like burglary, breaking and entering, criminal trespass, tampering with a witness and flight to evade prosecution. I set myself on fire several times just to video tape it. I loved to blow things up and break into businesses at night. I fled the country to avoid going to prison in a stolen SUV.  Ended up in front of more then one judge, facing more then 130 years in prison … I had a surprising impulse control disorder.  This all unfolded right as I turned 18.

I had seen six therapists by the time I was 18. …

They were all well qualified and good at what they do. The only problem was, it didn’t work. They could not reach me. I needed to be talked too, not prompted. Beth actually talked to me. She really put herself in the conversation. All her thoughts and attention were right their in the moment. She was present. She was able to meet me at my level and walk me through some really broken thinking patterns, something no other therapist could do.

I didn’t come to her willingly. I was ordered to go. I completely hated the idea of more therapy. Prison didn’t make me any more willing to play along ether. Prison changes you a lot, especially when you’re young. I don’t think I could have been any harder to crack. I gave her my money and sat quietly on her couch for an hour a week and then left with the signature I needed. I refused to speak or cooperate in any way. That lasted for a while before she broke in through a damn tough wall. I had a long line of people who I had broken, forced to quit or give up on me. The progress she made with me is truly amazing.

There were a lot of people who thought I would never change. It didn’t come easy. It took time and effort from both Beth and I. She helped me find the desire to work for change. I’ve been told my whole life that you can’t force someone to change. But I think you can teach them to want it. I have no idea where I would be if I walked through that door with the desire to change at the beginning. I do know that I would defiantly be in prison right now had I never walked through that door at all.

I’m 28 now and own my own home, have I job I love, and love in my life. Things an out of control narcissistic sociopath would find hard to obtain. I can tell you with no reservations that Beth is an amazing therapist, who has an amazing ability to reach out to her clients with compassion and deep, meaningful insight. Beth saved my life. While five years of therapy seems like too long, I can see that there was no other way to get here.

Therapy with Beth was one of the most important processes I have gone through in my life. It is the dividing line between who I was and who I am. If you met me now you would find it very hard to believe that I was capable of all of those things I did as a kid, or that I had ever been to prison at all. For the first time in my life, I feel good about who I am and what my life is about.”

~ Paul C.