Legal disclaimer: I am an associate licensed counselor under supervision of John Thorington, LPC-S.

-Zachary Michael Sheeley, MA, ALC, CAMS-II

As an autistic person myself, this is my main focus area.  I help autistic people better understand themselves and how to thrive in a world that doesn’t always make space for us.  

For autism therapy, I mainly lean on dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) because it targets the main areas autistic people tend to struggle with: mindfulness, emotion regulation, crisis management, and interpersonal effectiveness (social skills).  I also incorporate acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which emphasizes minimizing suffering and finding yourself by identifying your values and building your life around them.

This 8-week anger management program offers a comprehensive, structured way to understand, reduce, and manage your anger and is taught by a Level II Certified Anger Management Specialist (CAMS-II) by the National Anger Management Association (NAMA), the gold standard for clinical anger management training in the US.  Groups are for court-ordered and voluntary clients.

It consists of 8, hour-long sessions.  Sessions are as follows:

  • Session 1:
    • Getting Started.  Here, you will learn about the program and what anger and anger management are, as well as explore the origins of your anger.
    • Primitive and Evolved Brain.  This module expands on the first by teaching you about the brain regions behind anger, which builds the foundation for understanding future modules and how the interventions work.
  • Session 2:
    • Anger Awareness.  This module teaches how to become aware of signs you are becoming angry: you have to know you’re angry in the first place to be able to intervene.
    • Calming Techniques.  This is where you begin getting into the interventions, learning practical ways to deescalate your anger before you do something you’ll regret.
  • Session 3:
    • Shame and Shadow Material.  Here, we transition into getting to the root of your anger, as shame tends to be a major motivating factor.  Shame makes you feel small, so anger is often a way to combat that and feel big.
  • Session 4:
    • Destructive Thinking.  Here, we incorporate a little cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to think about your thinking and identify healthier thoughts that trigger less anger.  You might be surprised!
    • Judgmental and Critical Reaction.  This focuses on judgmental attitudes that fuel anger (and often point to judgmental attitudes toward yourself!)
  • Session 5:
    • Assertive Communication.  You might feel the need to be aggressive with your words and actions because it’s the only way you know how to get your needs met.  This module teaches better methods of communication that balance self-respect with respect for others, protecting your relationships while still helping you to meet your needs.
    • Conflict Resolution.  This expands on assertive communication training, focusing specifically on managing conflicts in healthy ways.  Conflict can tear relationships apart or make them stronger, if you have the right tools!
  • Session 6:
    • Stress and Anxiety Management.  Here, we work on tools to help manage your stress and anxiety, which is often a major driver behind your anger because again, anger is there to make you feel big when you start feeling small and scared.
  • Session 7:
    • Mindfulness.  This module teaches practical ways to live in the moment and be aware of yourself and surroundings, which is both calming and essential for being aware when you begin becoming angry, expanding on Module 3.
  • Session 8:
    • Practical Solutions.  This final module ties everything together and ensures you know how to incorporate what you’ve learned into your day-to-day life.

For trauma recovery, I mainly lean on cognitive processing therapy, where we talk about your trauma and analyze your narratives about it until you get bored of talking about it.  This won’t be easy, but it’s life-changing work!

I am also in the process of becoming certified in Brainspotting, a method evolved from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) that could help you process trauma without having to talk about it.

Brainspotting is a powerful bottom-up modality (a type of therapy that uses the body to change the mind), evolved from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).  Rather than bilateral movements (e.g., looking side-to-side), Brainspotting involves finding a specific spot to focus on while processing trauma.  This spot is thought to be linked to a spot within the brain where the trauma is stored, allowing clients to access and process it in a safe environment, often leading to rapid relief. 

However, the actual mechanism of how Brainspotting works is hypothetical; i.e., we don’t really know why it works, but we have lots of evidence that it works, often more effectively than most popular modalities like CBT (but results will vary depending on the person and the issue: these studies focus on averages and samples representing whole populations).

So what actually happens in a Brainspotting session?  How do I do it?

Well I’m glad you asked!  While methodology can vary depending on the needs of clients, whether we’re combining Brainspotting with other types of therapy, etc., it follows the following basic framework:

  1. You talk about the issue you want to work on, however much or little you want to (that’s part of the beauty of Brainspotting: you can process trauma without having to talk about it much, or at all).
  2. We see how distressed you feel on a scale from 1 to 10, called a “SUDS” level (“Subjective Units of Distress Scale”), like the pain scale at the hospital, except for mental pain.
  3. We figure out where you feel the distress in your body.  E.g., you might notice a sinking feeling in your abdomen when you feel stressed, heaviness in your shoulders, etc.
  4. We find the eye position  linked to the trauma, i.e., linked to the “Brainspot”.  This also might involve interventions like covering one eye, changing whether you look near or far, or listening to calming/stimulating music (“biolateral music”).  There are many methods of doing this, so one is chosen based on your individual needs.  See below for video examples of some of these methods.
  5. You focus on the spot and process the trauma.  This is where your brain takes over and uses its natural ability to scan and heal itself.  You might close your eyes or keep them open, and your internal experience might be literal thoughts related to the trauma or might take a more abstract, dream-like path.  Clients also often find their mind goes places they never expected, links between present issues and childhood experiences, for example.  I am there to hold the space for this (on a neurological level, having a trained professional present and attuned to you is essential in helping you remain grounded and to establish a sense of safety for processing the trauma), to check on you periodically, and to serve as a “lifeguard” ready to help you if things become too much.
 

I offer weekly anger management groups for adults 18+, and a PEERS social skills group and an emotional regulation group, both for young adults 18-30.  Now recruiting new members: reach out if interested!  More information here.

Chat GPT CBT Triangle (2)

CBT is by far the most popular form of therapy in America in 2025.  The concept behind it is simple: your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors each influence each other.  During cognitive behavioral therapy, we use this idea to change your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through exercises directly targeting your thoughts or behaviors.

For example:

Let’s say you struggle with social anxiety because you believe you are socially awkward and no fun to be around (thoughts).  This causes you to experience anxiety (emotion) when you know a social event is coming up and intense fear during such events (emotion), which leads to you avoiding social events whenever possible (behavior). 

Your avoidance of these situations solidifies in your mind that social situations pose a threat to you and should therefore be avoided (thoughts).  This creates further anxiety about social events (emotion), resulting in further avoidance (behavior). 

When you do go to social events, your intense anxiety (emotion) makes it hard to think straight, so you tend to stumble through your words (behavior) and make awkward jokes (behavior) that make others uncomfortable.  This confirms the (thought) that you are awkward and no fun to be around, increasing your fear and anxiety (emotions) and avoidance (behavior) of further social events.

I could go on forever with this example.  As you can see, your thoughts influence your emotions and behaviors; your emotions influence your thoughts and behaviors; and your behaviors influence your thoughts and emotions, and it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, where we have these thoughts (that you’re awkward and no fun to be around) become a reality because of what these thoughts lead you to do.  I.e., you think you’re an awkward person who is no fun to be around, so you wind up becoming an awkward person who is no fun to be around.

So what do we do?

Under a CBT lens, we would start by analyzing the situation, like what you see above, outlining the thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, and how they influence each other. 

Next, we would use some interventions to break the cycle.  These interventions involve either changing your behaviors or changing your thoughts by challenging them logically.

As you can see, the idea and process behind CBT is very simple.  The hard part is creating and implementing an approach for your unique situation.  It’s one of those things that is simple, but not easy!  It involves things like critically thinking about your own thoughts and putting those thoughts “on trial.”  Or doing things that are a little uncomfortable, such as facing your fears in a controlled, safe manner.  

DBT Minds

Marsha Linehan, a person with borderline personality disorder, was repeatedly hospitalized for suicide attempts.  She found cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helpful for managing her symptoms, but something was missing, so she modified it into something specifically designed to help those with borderline, and a new modality, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), was born!

Since then, studies have found DBT to be helpful for many people besides just those with borderline.  For example, it is one of the better modalities for autism due to its focus on emotional regulation and social skills.  Whenever I have a client seeking help improving emotional regulation or social skills, this is the main modality that comes to mind, and if a wizard or witch were to place a curse on me where I could only use one modality for the rest of my life, I’d choose this one: Linehan is a genius!

DBT gives practical solutions and psychoeducation (teaching you some basic psychology to help you better understand and manage your symptoms).  It focuses on four main areas: mindfulness, emotional regulation, crisis deescalation, and interpersonal effectiveness (“social skills”).  Core concepts include radical acceptance and wise mind.  I will go into more detail on each of these below:

Mindfulness

This is the foundation of DBT and the first lesson it teaches, as it is essential for being able to learn and apply all other DBT skills.  ‘Mindfulness’ is a broad term for the ability to focus on the present moment, to remain grounded and less “stuck in your head.”  This could involve focusing on your bodily sensations, environment, a task, or even your thoughts (This may seem to contradict what I just said, but there’s a difference between becoming consumed with your thoughts, arguing with them, etc., and simply observing them and letting them come and go like waves in the ocean).

Meditation is often the first thing that comes to mind when people talk about this, but it doesn’t have to be that formal.  You can engage in mindfulness exercises throughout your day, such as focusing completely on your lunch rather than scrolling on your phone or being lost in your head.  It’s a skill, and regular practice will boost your discipline, self-control, emotional regulation abilities, ability to focus, and tons of other benefits.

Emotional Regulation

This is about experiencing your emotions and expressing them in healthy ways.   ADD TO THIS

Crisis Deescalation

These are skills for situations where you might not have access to your typical emotional regulation skills.  The more intense your emotions become, the harder it is to use complex skills, so this part of DBT teaches you ways to quickly deescalate your emotional intensity before you do something harmful.  

Interpersonal Effectiveness

This part of DBT is all about learning ways to form relationships, maintain them, set boundaries, communicate assertively, and more.  ‘Relationships’ is a broad term here and includes platonic, romantic, familial, and professional relationships.

Radical Acceptance

This is an important skill in DBT that focuses on acknowledging how things are right now, rather than denying reality or fighting against it, as doing so only increases your suffering and prevents you from being able to take steps to address the situation. 

Like many things in mental health, this concept is simple, but not easy to do.  It’s a skill that takes practice and commitment, and one you have to choose to use over and over again.

Wise Mind

This is a major concept in DBT where you combine your emotions and logical thoughts to create a “wise” perspective that integrates both.

For example, imagine you were fired from your job today.  You will likely notice different parts of your mind competing for dominance.  DBT categorizes these into two main groups: the emotional mind and the logical mind. 

Emotional mind: You feel anxious about what your future might hold with the loss of this job.  You feel hurt at this rejection, which might manifest as anger.  After all, you dedicated so much time and energy to this job just to be thrown away like garbage.  Maybe these thoughts and emotions make you want to do something like curse out your boss, get wasted, drive recklessly, or punch a hole in the wall.

Logical mind: You see that you just lost your source of income, so you’re thinking pragmatically about how you will pay your bills.  You wonder whether you could get an extension on your rent this month, maybe take a loan from a friend.  You might consider going to a temp agency, improving your resume, looking into gig work apps, selling stuff around the house, etc.  

Wise mind is where emotional mind and logical mind bind together as one: you consider the situation rationally and pragmatically while also acknowledging and expressing your emotions, and considering them when making your decisions.  What this might look like:

Wise mind: You see the pressing need to start making money or making other arrangements to pay your bills on time, but you also recognize the emotions you are experiencing.  You decide the first thing you will do is take steps to express your emotions and deescalate, but rather than doing some of the self-destructive things mentioned earlier, you find healthy outlets like engaging in a hobby, talking to a friend, meditating, exercising, etc.  Once your emotions are more regulated, you create a plan of action to address your financial situation, being sure to add in time for self-care and breaks in between.  You take action to address the situation while still hearing and validating the “human” part of yourself in healthy ways.

Imagine you’re throwing a huge party.  You’ve invited all your friends; the music is great; everyone is having the time of their life! 

Then this guy you didn’t invite comes in.  He immediately gets wasted and is rude to your guests and you, complains about the music and decor, and is overall unpleasant to be around. 

So you ask him to leave.  He refuses, so you usher him out.  

However, this guy is persistent.  He sits at the door, constnatly trying to open it (Let’s say for the sake of this analogy that locks and police officers don’t exist.).  You don’t want him back in your party, so you guard the door, holding it shut.

And it works.  Kind of….  He stays outside your house and isn’t able to cause you any problems, right?

On second thought, you realize this isn’t keeping him from causing problems at all.  In fact, sitting by this door all day means you’re missing out on the party and constantly thinking about, and dealing with, this guy you don’t like!  You start to think that maybe trying so hard to keep this guy out is somehow making him even more of a nuisance.  Now he’s all you can focus on, and you’re using every ounce of energy you have to prevent him from breaching your door.

You finally decide that what you’re doing isn’t worth it, that despite him annoying you so much and making the party less fun, you were still enjoying yourself more with him running around your party being annoying than you are now.  So you relent, letting him come back in, and go back to the party as you did before.

Thus, he returns to wandering around, causing problems.  But you realize trying to keep him out does more harm than good.  That doesn’t mean you like this fact, just that you acknowledge it and plan accordingly.  

You decide to try not to focus on him too much, instead talking to your friends, listening to the music, and eating good food.  As you do this, he becomes increasingly bored and eventually leaves on his own.  He might try coming back again later, but if he does, now you know how you will handle it.

…..

This example conveys the basic principles of ACT, especially its core concept of acceptance.  The other five principles are values, committed action, cognitive defusion, self as context, and presence.  I will describe each in detail below:

Acceptance

This means acknowledging what is true, rather than hiding from it or denying from it.  Milk spoils.  Pets die.  You lost your job.  

This does not mean you are happy about or support these things.  It also doesn’t mean putting your head down and giving up (quite the opposite: acceptance is the first step toward change!).  I mean exactly what I am saying–no more, no less. You are just accepting what is true.

Why?  Because this minimizes suffering and makes it possible to, well, act!  Avoiding reality might bring short-term relief, but it overall just makes things worse.  ACT is all about minimizing suffering!

Values

Values are simply the things you care about deep down.  They give your life meaning and ensure you’re doing things consistent with getting what you want out of life.  While goals can be achieved, values never will be: they are the compass that guides you through life, things you will strive for until the day you die.  Thus, they help you to set goals that align with things you care about.

For example, maybe you value creativity, so you set goals involving creative endeavors, such as writing a song.  After you write this song, you will have achieved your goal, but your value will remain, helping you to create new objectives.  For example, maybe you’ll decide now you’d like to learn an instrument, create a portrait, join a poetry club, etc.  Being aware of this value lets you use it to ensure you’re using your time in ways that give your life meaning, doing things you care about.

Common values include authenticity, honesty, courage, friendship, family, humor, security, and responsibility, but the list is almost endless.  

When engaging in acceptance and commitment therapy, I will walk you through exercises to help you determine your values, then work with you to determine goals you could focus on to live a life aligned with these.  

Committed Action

This is another word for the “goals” mentioned earlier, creating concrete ways you will do things in line with your values.  

Cognitive Defusion

While standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) often aims to change thoughts, ACT takes a different approach.  As in the example above, you didn’t try to change the rude guest at the party.  Rather, you focused on how you interacted with him and how you thought about him.

That’s what cognitive defusion is all about: keep the thoughts the same, but focus on changing how they affect you.  (This is one reason why I like to combine modalities: imagine how powerful this could be when coupled with normal CBT, hitting the thoughts from both angles by both changing the thoughts themselves and how they affect you!).  

How would we go about this?  One major way is a simple change in your internal narration.  You go from, I am worthless, to, I am having the thought that I am worthless.  Through interventions like this, you can put some space between yourself and your thoughts, thereby reducing their effects on you.  You can start to see thoughts for what they are: firings of neurons, rather than absolute truths or reflections of who you are.

In other words, to change how much thoughts affect you, you change how you think about the thoughts, rather than changing the thoughts themselves.  This is a major theme in therapy, thinking about your thinking.  In this way, you will watch yourself slowly start to become your own therapist!

Self as Context

Also known as the “observing self,” this concept is not unique to ACT, but it is essential to this modality.  The idea is that we often become enmeshed with our thoughts and sensations we experience from our environments but that there is a ‘self’ under all of that, one who watches what you do like a scientist.  E.g., you are reading my website right now, but there is a part of you that is watching you read it.  ACT helps you become more in touch with this, helping you to develop a stronger sense of identity and to better separate yourself from your thoughts and experiences. 

The self cannot be harmed or affected by anything, internal or external, and it will exist as long as you are alive (maybe even after, depending on what you believe happens after death).  It just is.  It is what lies underneath everything you say, do, or think, the core of your being.  As previously stated, this is not unique to ACT and is present in many counseling modalities, as well as most major religions, often referred to as the “soul” in those contexts.  However, you do not have to be religious to appreciate this concept, whatever you consider the “self” to be.

Presence

As with many types of therapy (‘modalities’), ACT places emphasis on mindfulness, which just means being aware of the present moment.  Seeing your external environment and internal thoughts for what they are, not makind judgements about them, berating yourself for them, etc.

Let me be clear: this doesn’t mean you always have to be in this mode.  Evaluating (making judgements on) your thoughts, environment, and situations you are in is an important skill that is pivotal for being able to make good decisions and develop more sense of self.  It is also important to be able to plan ahead: it wouldn’t be good to live in the present moment all the time.  All I’m saying is that it’s important to be able to enter this present mindset as well, especially when becoming overwhelmed or having unproductive thoughts, such as negative self-talk (e.g., thinking you are worthless, unloveable, incompetent, etc.).

CPT is a powerful tool for processing trauma, reducing its effects on you.  It is short-term, typically lasting roughly 12 sessions, and it is intensive, where it is generally recommended to have 2 sessions per week.  It involves homework and confronting traumatic memories head-on, so it might take time before clients are prepared to safely take this step.  

As the name suggests, CPT is a cognitive therapy, meaning it focuses on changing your thoughts.  In this type of therapy (‘modality’), we will analyze your thoughts about the traumatic event and the conclusions you have drawn about yourself and the world.

This intensive modality starts by writing your account of the traumatic event.  The following sessions focus on discussing your account, especially focusing on the thoughts your interpretation of the event causes, e.g., how you view yourself and the world.  Next, we will challenge those thoughts, and you will likely leave with a different perspective on the meaning behind the event.  

The main concepts discussed in this type of therapy are over-accommodation, assimilation, the “just world myth,” and natural vs manufactured emotions.  I will go into more detail on each below:

Over-accommodation

This is when you change your beliefs to accept the traumatic event more than is reasonable or logical.  Healthy accommodation just means taking the event into account when adjusting your worldview, but when this is overdone, it becomes “over-accommodation.”  For example, someone is robbed by an Asian man at gunpoint and concludes all Asian men are dangerous.  

Assimilation

Like over-accommodation, this is another unhealthy way people often make sense of a traumatic event.  However, in this case, one changes their perspective on the event to make it fit in with their existing beliefs. 

For example, someone holds the belief that bad things only happen to bad people.  Then a traumatic event happens to them, so they conclude they therefore must be a bad person.  I.e., they interpret the event in a way that fits in with their existing belief that bad things only happen to bad people.

The Just World Myth

This is a common belief that bad things only happen to bad people and good things only happen to good people.  This is commonly instilled in childhood, as it is helpful for parenting (If you do good things, you’ll get good thigns in return.  If you do bad things, you will be punished) and difficult to explain to children all the nuances of this.  In other words, this is the belief that everything that happens in the world is just and fair.  

This often leads to assimilation like in the previous example, believing that if bad things only happen to bad people, and something bad happened to you, then you must be a bad person; i.e., you must have done something to deserve it.  The broader term for this fallacy is a “false premise,” where you draw conclusions based on a statement that is untrue or only partially untrue.

It is important to note that with this and all other beliefs discussed here, it is possible to only partially believe something.  E.g., if I were to ask a client, “Is it impossible for a bad thing to happen to a good person?” they probably would answer with a resounding no.  However, they still might hold onto that belief behind the scenes, as shown by their concluding they must be a bad person because something bad happened to them.  The mind is complex and often contradicts itself.

Natural vs Manufactured Emotions

In CPT, natural emotions are emotions directly stemming from the event, such as experiencing fear from being held at gunpoint. 

Manufactured emotions are those resulting from your thoughts about the event, such as believing if you were held at gunpoint, you must have deserved it, and therefore experiencing guilt and shame.  

CPT aims to minimize manufactured emotions, viewing them as unnecessary suffering created by inaccurate interpretations.  

Person-centered therapy (also known as “talk therapy”) operates on the idea that you have the ability to solve your own problems and grow naturally, so the counselor steps back into a support role, with you as the leader.  These sessions are client-led; i.e., the counselor offers an open space for self-led exploration.  

Now you might ask, If I’m the one leading the session, what does the counselor do?  There are 3 main elements person-centered counselors focus on: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence. 

Unconditional Positive Regard

This means believing clients are inherently good, regardless of what they do or say.  The concept is that you are not your words and actions and always have the ability to change.  This does not mean approving of all words and actions, but rather, approving of all people. 

Empathy

Person-centered counselors put themselves in clients’ shoes, understanding them on the deepest level possible.

Congruence

This is an area where person-centered counseling differs from other types of therapy.  Person-centered counselors bring themselves into the session.  They still maintain professional boundaries, but they give their honest opinions and act as themselves, rather than your stereotypical “blank slate,” always neutral therapist you see in TV and movies. 

…..

Through these elements, person-centered counselors help you realize your full potential by helping you develop your self-esteem and self-love as they demonstrate treating you the way you should treat yourself–with unconditional positive regard and empathy.

As stated earlier, person-centered counseling is for clients who have the potential to solve their own problems, so the purpose of this type of therapy is to help you remove barriers keeping you from doing this. 

In this service, the counseling relationship itself is the means for change.  

I recently passed the NCE, and I enjoy teaching others.  During these sessions, you can ask questions, review challenging concepts or questions in practice books, be quizzed, or use the time in any other way you find helpful.

Sessions are 1 hour long and cost $100.  They can be conducted in-person at any public location in the Huntsville area (e.g., a coffee shop or park) or virtually via video call.  Virtual sessions are available for anyone in the US.

If interested, you can reach me at sheeleycounseling@gmail.com or (256) 956-3924 (texts preferred).

An emotional support animal (ESA) is a pet that helps ground clients and offers them companionship.  These are not service animals and receive no special training, just regular cats, dogs, or other pets.  The ESA designation simply means landlords must allow you to have said pets, even if they have a no pets policy, and they may not charge you any fees for doing so.

I will assess you to see whether this would be beneficial and, if so, complete any documentation you need to receive this accommodation from your landlord.