Today we’d like to introduce you to Doug Burford.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Perhaps it was the death of my father at the age of five that commenced a journey to fill a void that everyone fills in one way or another. I sought to fill it in usual male ways: friendships, challenges, excitement, following the rules, breaking some rules, girls, cars, academics, and a few sports. But a compassion for people and a love for helping others found its way into a college major in social work. That took me to an inner-city ministry where I concluded that much of the emergency assistance I was providing was just putting bandages on wet skin. I saw that many of the depressed circumstances I encountered were the result of unprincipled living that could only be transformed through spiritual renewal (such as is the cornerstone of recovery programs). Leaving the inner-city with the newfound love of my life (now 40 years married), we journeyed East to Princeton Theological Seminary, which commenced 30 years of pastoral ministry and a front row seat to those life-changing spiritual transformations. But, yet again, I found myself encountering situations for which my academic and professional training did not have tools. This led me to pursue a degree in counseling, where I came to understand mental health principles that affect all people, regardless of spiritual condition. A decade into professional counseling, I’ve become specialized in Couples Therapy. Having trained with the Gottman Institute – the gold standard of marital therapy – I take pleasure in noting that biblical principles underly research-based methodology, and have started writing a book on this. I count it a privilege to have married someone who exemplifies and has always practiced naturally with the marriage books try to teach the rest of us. My counseling practice is open to people of faith, people of no faith, and people who don’t know where they are with respect to faith. The principles I’ve learn stand on their own, working effectively whether or not one recognizes their alignment with higher principles.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Traversing worlds is always a challenge. I went from a military world to a civilian world, then back to a military world with my mother’s marriage to another army officer, thus traversing from a biological family to a step family. Then there came traversing a spiritual world amid a secular world. Then a college world, followed by a professional world within an inner-city world, in which I lived and worked, traversing to and from a suburban world. The world of Christian ministry was also one of living in the world, yet not of it—yet very much in it. Finally, the counseling world in the changing 21st century both aligns with, but contrasts with, Christian truths that I hold as my own. And of course, I traversed from the single world to the married world – a transition for which a professional counselor might even be sought out.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Doug Burford Counseling, LLC?
Trained both in Gottman Method Couples Therapy (The Gottman Institute) and in theology (Princeton Theological Seminary and Talbot School of Theology), I bring these disciplines and experiences and the tools of both professions into my counseling practice. Perhaps most importantly, I bring 40 years of marriage, which has gifted me with real world practice through sickness and health, poverty and wealth, good times and bad times, joys and sorrows, graces and griefs, the joys and challenges of parenting, and the joys and challenges of caring for ill and dying parents.
My practice is also distinguished by offering 2 1/4 day private couple intensives. This format overcomes the liability sometimes experienced recurrent 50 minute sessions a week. In fact, I don’t do 50 minute couples therapy sessions. My non-intensive intake session is 4 1/2 hours, followed by a two hour session, followed by 1.5 hour sessions.
I’m also privileged to lead for The Gottman Institute it’s 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work program, as well as—along with my wife—its Bringing Baby Home program.
I’m also a Director/Trainer for the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment, certifying future assessment Facilitators.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
While I specialize in couples therapy, I’m also trained in trauma therapy, most often utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Often practiced by the Veterans Administration, it is a proven therapeutic intervention for processing traumatic experiences and dispelling unwanted thoughts. This intervention is sometimes briefly employed for one or both spouses to alleviate trauma or thoughts directly affecting the marriage.
Pricing:
- $165 per hour (over $150K annual income)
- $125 per hour ($100-150K annual income)
- $95 per hour (under $100K annual income)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://DougBurford.com
