Team Members

Our Team

Finding a counselor you feel comfortable with is the first step toward effective therapy. The MindSol Wellness Center staff includes men and women with a variety of training, techniques, and life experiences. But all our Sarasota therapists are united in our mission to provide compassionate, personalized care.

While we focus on providing talk therapy, we also partner with a physician for any client who may benefit from prescription medication as well as counseling.

We look forward to meeting you! If you review our short bios on this site and decide you would like to work with a particular provider, please let us know when you call or fill out your contact form, and we will check that person’s availability. If you aren’t sure who is best able to address the topics you would like to discuss in therapy, we will help match you with someone whose skills and experience are likely to be a good fit.

A Variety of Perspectives

All our counselors are licensed, registered, or certified in the state of Florida, though they have different backgrounds. Smith Tilka, for example, has a master’s degree in psychology, while Kim Benson has a doctorate degree in counselor education and supervision. Some team members have advanced training in working with survivors of trauma.

Several of our providers have personal experience in their specialty areas. Dave Forestier and Cole Young, both certified addiction counselors, are themselves in recovery, Dave for nearly 40 years.

Aside from their professional qualifications, each therapist brings a unique perspective. They all have their own strategies for making patients feel at ease and helping them explore the issues that are causing stress or straining relationships.

Each therapist also has particular areas of interest, such as helping clients set boundaries, embark on a new chapter of life, or manage a work-life balance. Members of the MindSol team have experience working with people who have been in prison, people living with disruptive mental illness, and other unique situations that may affect their mental health and coping strategies.

Our Approach

While each MindSol counselor brings their own flair to therapy, the members of our practice all follow certain best practices. In technical terms, we work within an object-relations and psychodynamic theoretical framework.

What does that mean to clients?

Simply put, we are committed to providing therapy that serves each client’s best interest. That means trying different strategies and customizing treatment to fit every person’s unique needs. Meanwhile, our Sarasota therapists are always focused on lifting up the people we work with. Once we identify the sources of anxiety, sadness, and conflict, we look for productive ways to replace self-destructive thoughts and behaviors with positive ones!

Contact the MindSol Wellness Center to Meet a Licensed Therapist in Sarasota, FL

We offer counseling in English and Spanish at our office in Sarasota, by phone, or by video chat. Get in touch by filing out the contact form or by calling us at (941) 256-3725. We look forward to working with you soon!

To schedule a counseling session in Sarasota, FL

call the MindSol Wellness Center today