Christopher Thomas

Christopher Thomas, Resident in Professional Counseling

He/him/his – what are personal pronouns and why do they matter?

Clients I work with: Adult individuals, toddlers, children, tweens, teens, parents, families, and couples.

Issues I work with: Relationships, attachment concerns, communication, connection, emotional intimacy, parenting, patterns of interaction, ADHD, self-worth/compassion, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, life transitions, family of origin work, childhood experiences, healthy boundaries, sexual concerns, men’s mental health, and LGBTQIA+ needs.

 

Relationships are the foundation of human development and well-being. Our relational experiences are always shaping our identity, worldview, choices, patterns of interaction, and purpose in life. These experiences help us know what is loveable about us, what needs we can expect to be met, which emotions are acceptable, and what kind of connections are available to us.

No matter our age, we strive to find, develop, nurture, and sustain satisfying relationships. In an ideal world, our relationships are meaningful, secure, reciprocal, and responsive. For many of us, our experience of being connected can also include misunderstandings, conflict, unresolved hurts, or fractures of trust. For some of us, it can include invalidation, abuse, grief, loss, or abandonment.

Whatever your experience of being in connection with important others, I will work with you to explore your relationships, past and present, and ways to grow relationships that are meaningful to you. I hope to offer validation, organization, and a solid clinical map to each of my clients so you can understand and heal the deep pains, limiting beliefs, and protective strategies that have arisen out of missed connections.

Whether I am working with an individual, couple, or family, I serve to help clients understand the emotional needs that underpin their patterns of interaction and ways to pay attention to these more directly. Emotions are a focus of my work, as the driving force behind most behaviors, beliefs, and relational patterns. They serve as a means of communicating to us when we need something, are hurting, or feel under threat.  

In my work with couples/relationships, I focus on strengthening trust, safety, and communication between partners. In a world that focuses so much on individualism, we forget the power that connection with others can hold. Connection and emotional load sharing is the greatest resource we have against fear, hurt, stress, shame, and loss. I work with couples to develop a deeper emotional connection with each other, where both partners can be their true selves, share their needs, and feel secure, while also knowing how to offer this to their partner.

I lean upon Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, an evidence-based model, that focuses on supporting couples with different styles of navigating emotion, conflict, and repair. Where one of you pursues for connection, resolution, and validation and the other withdraws to dial down the tension, avoid conflict, and reduce the emotional intensity, I can help you to slow this dance down.

My role is to serve as the ‘subtitles’ of your relationship, helping you share your needs and emotions more openly, heal old wounds, and find ways to repair conflicts that bring you closer together. Together, we can work towards creating a secure enough place where you can communicate your vulnerable and sometimes hard emotions with each other in a manner that helps you feel connected, secure, and heard.

I am a sex-positive therapist and often work with couples who would like to explore this aspect of their connection. I approach this topic with compassion, respect, and curiosity.

In my work with families (aged 2 to 18) I use a structural family approach with an emphasis on attachment and communication. My goal is to make counseling a positive and rewarding experience for you and your family.

As a parent, I know the desire to help your children reach their greatest potential by giving them the right tools for success. I start by meeting with you as their parent(s) to learn more about areas of both strength and stress in your family. It is a vulnerable thing to see your child struggle or not feel sure about how best to support them so I want to start with learning about what you need and how I can be a trusted resource for you. I’ll work with you to get a clear idea as to how your family system navigates nurture, empathy, and engagement alongside structure, boundaries, and a healthy push to grow.

When I work with parents, I want you to know I understand how hard it is to navigate the emotions and challenges that arise in family life. Each parent has an origin story, a map for parenting that is based on their own experiences of being parented. Sometimes that map is based on security, attunement, and responsiveness, sometimes not. These experiences can shape how we respond to our children, their unique personalities, and their ways of navigating distress. Where your story carries moments of hurt, invalidation, broken trust, or worse, I can work to help you build a new map that feels secure, empowering, empathic, and clear for you and your child or teen.

Your child’s success starts with a safe environment. I will meet your child at their level, working with them to build rapport so we can develop an individualized plan to best address their needs, support a reduction of symptoms, and promote emotional growth. Most behaviors are underpinned by an unmet need, emotion dysregulation or overwhelm, or a missed connection. My role is to help families get to the root of what is happening so that the need can be met directly, and problematic behaviors are no longer needed.

I work on helping your child get a better sense of their emotions, their needs, and their unique strengths. I also work on normalizing the stressors and challenges of life and learning their current strategies for telling the world they are struggling. All sessions and interventions are then specifically tailored to the needs of your child so that a new map for relating, responding, and repairing can be built. My goal is for your family to deeply understand each other, know how to give each other what you need and feel securely connected, long after therapy has ended.

As a team, we will implement the strategies and tools that work best for your child at home, in school, and in the community. I use a variety of modalities that can include family systems, attachment, trauma, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and CBT.

I received a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Emory & Henry College: School of Health Sciences. I also received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Emory & Henry College. My clinical experience includes working in community-based settings, intensive in-home settings, and in the public school system. I primarily worked with children aged 1-18 years old and with families of tweens and teens, supporting them through periods of transition, divorce, loss, trauma, emotion dysregulation, anxiety, depression, and repairing attachment wounds.

I identify as an LGBTQIA+ ally, non-monogamy-affirming, sex-positive, culturally humble therapist.

Anwar currently works under the supervision of Rachel Pendergraft Beck, LMFT. In the event that clients have any questions or concerns about his work, his supervisor can be contacted at: rpendergraftbeck@thecenterforconnection.com, (703) 878-3290, 3930 Walnut St, Suite 250, Fairfax, VA 22030.