When it comes to helping young people, a collaborative, relational, and holistic approach is necessary to see long lasting change. And, before change can occur, we need empathy, patience, and awareness. I first develop rapport with my clients so they know they have a safe relationship with me. After we have that foundation, we work together to identify and achieve their goals so they can be more confident and successful.
Jeff Reyes
MSW, CSW
Alpine Therapist
CREDENTIALS
Master of Social Work, University of Utah
Bachelors’ of Psychology; Health, Graceland University
Clinical Experience: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Trauma Focused CBT, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Motivational Interviewing (MI)
PHILOSOPHY
Jeff believes that everything affects everything else, necessitating a holistic approach to any difficulty or challenge. Gateway’s structure and approach provides this holistic and relational path to wellness, with individual and group therapy enhancing the healing and growth process. By helping students to identify their thoughts, feelings and actions, they can better align with their values and take action to live them well. Before any of this can occur, Jeff focuses on building relationships and believes this to be the most important part of the process.
PROFESSIONAL
Jeff’s professional path began as an English teacher in South Korea, where he learned about clear communication and the diversity of useful and purposeful perspectives. After returning to the States, Jeff began working as a wilderness therapy guide, where he learned the importance of relationships in the therapeutic process and how to build group culture. Jeff was promoted to a Program Coordinator position for the neurodiverse group, and designed a curriculum focused on building social pragmatic skills and facilitated staff development. After four years, Jeff shifted to doing individual clinical work, working with young people in foster care for two years. Overall, Jeff specializes in helping young people to live fulfilling and rich lives by teaching skills to heal from past events, improve their interpersonal relationships, and effectively manage anxiety and depression.
PERSONAL
Jeff loves to play team sports for the combination of mind, body and spirit they provide, as well as the high levels of collaboration and communication that are required. Jeff loves “type two fun,” which is to say, fun in retrospect, such as running and backpacking long distances, and regular ice baths. Jeff enjoys cooking and finding obscure dishes to cook because each one teaches a new skill. Jeff also enjoys mycology and foraging.
CREATING SUCCESS
When it comes to helping young people, a collaborative and holistic approach is necessary to see long lasting change. Before change can occur, we need empathy, patience, and awareness. Jeff strives to foster each adolescent's confidence in their own abilities to advocate for themselves and prepare them to continue their journeys of individuation and relationship after Gateway. Along the way, he also creates opportunities for youth to develop healthy relationships with their emotional experience through insight and expression with the intent of creating deeper connections to themselves and others that can help them better live into their full potential after Gateway.