Joe Kotynek LCSW

CLIENTS WITH WHOM
Joe WORKS WELL

Joe works in supporting clients that struggle to connect with their core values and beliefs—clients who externalize behaviors that manifest in substance use disorder, emotional dysregulation, conflict, defiance, lack of self-esteem, and poor communication.  Joe treats adolescent clients who experience substance use, anxiety, depression, lack of purpose, and experiential avoidance.  As a collaborative guide in the journey of self-discovery and healing, Joe assists youth and their families to encounter themselves as they are so they may move to whom they want to become. Through facing the struggle of living, Joe believes purpose and meaning are created.  Joe believes strongly in the acceptance of the present moment experience, developing and connecting to personal values, and committed action. The focus of therapy with him revolves around the premise that people can hold difficulties and challenges while moving forward toward a fulfilled and meaningful life through acquiring intra and interpersonal skills.

EDUCATION &
PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE

Joe began work with Second Nature in 2000 as a Senior Field Instructor and after 5 years as a field guide perused a career in ecology/natural resources at Utah State University.  Feeling the draw of working with teens and their families, Joe left his career to pursue a Masters degree in Social Work at USU, a lifelong goal of his.  While completing his degree, Joe worked in the public health sector as a clinician working with substance use disorder and mental health. The clinical focus of his academic training revolves around Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and existentialism. We were thrilled to have Joe rejoin the Second Nature team in 2022, as a therapist with specialized training in substance use disorder.

Strengths

Meeting the client where they are in life and looking through their lens is the foundation for building a strong therapeutic relationship.  Metaphor and interpretation of the challenges encountered in the wilderness experience are the building blocks from which Joe helps clients create a strengths-based view of themselves.  Acceptance and non-judgment are a given stance that Joe encompasses that facilitates the opportunities that present themselves for clients to make changes.  Fostering change by allowing people to explore their inner landscape is a hallmark of his approach.