About Dr. Arthur Chen, PsyD, CCTP, Licensed Psycholoigst & Trauma Professional

DR. ARTHUR’S BACKGROUND

Dr. Arthur Chen, Psy.D, CCTP-II, is a Licensed Psychologist in private practice, located in Boca Raton, Florida. He is also fully licensed in Maryland and provides tele-health services to the residents of Maryland.

Dr. Arthur has two Masters Degrees in Psychology (Masters of Applied Psychology with a specialization in Counseling and a Masters of Clinical Psychology) along with a Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology. He is currently appointed as an Associate Professor of Psychology and is the Primary Therapist and oversees the clinical trauma track for a dual diagnosis residential treatment center. He also serves as the Clinical Director for CrossBridge Clinical Associates, a full service concierge case management and intervention firm.

He has also worked as a Primary Therapist for both an eating disorder and a substance use treatment center. Moreover, he is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional – Level 2 (CCTP-II) with the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP).

In addition to his years of experience working with eating disorders, primary mental health, and substance abuse, Dr. Arthur has worked with patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety (including Generalised Anxiety and Phobias), depression, thought disorders, and personality disorders. Clinically, he works with a wide age range from children to older adults. He has worked with adults who do not necessarily have a “disorder” but are struggling with the responsibilities and pressures of adulthood.

Dr. Arthur has also presented and lectured at psychology conferences throughout the United States and is fluent in both English and Mandarin. Additionally, he has received numerous recognitions for his contributions to the community mental health needs of South Florida. Dr. Arthur has been recognized by the Boca Raton Police Dept’s Crisis Negotiations Team, Pembroke Pines Police’s Crisis Response Team, and Plantation Police Dept’s Crisis Response Team for his efforts in furthering the respective departments training and education on mental health.

In his off time, Dr. Arthur is an avid outdoorsman including a passion for automotive racing, motorcycling, backpacking, and horseback riding. He has ridden horseback throughout the United States, South Africa, and Costa Rica. He also backpacked throughout Europe and South American while completing his graduate studies at Nova Southeastern University, in Davie Florida. He is also enthusiastic about giving back to the community and has volunteered with various charities in South Florida. He has been a Big Brother through the Big Brother Big Sister Program of America for 18 years. He was very honored to have been the Big Brother Big Sister nominee for the Men with Caring Hearts Outstanding Male Volunteer Award given by the Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, Boca Raton, FL in 2016.

DR. ARTHUR’S APPROACH TO THERAPY

In therapy, Dr. Arthur’s first goal is to understand why a person is struggling. Then, work with the patient to build resiliency and strength in adapting and overcoming life’s challenges. He believes that therapy is an investment in one’s own emotional development and happiness while finding a purpose or meaning in life. His driving ethos in therapy is to make therapy applicable to real-life situations and have palpable changes in the client’s life. With this idea in mind, Dr. Arthur will help guide and challenge the client to develop into a stronger, more resilient, individual while respecting the client’s pace. Therapy is very much about growing and changing, which often requires a period of discomfort. At each stage, Dr. Arthur works with the client to master that stage before moving on. This is especially true in social skills and self-confidence development.

Clinically, Dr. Arthur therapy is informed by different, but interrelated, evidence-based therapy models. He has received training and supervision in the Unified Protocol* for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). *The Unified Protocol (UP) is a cutting edge multi-treatment model that can be used to treat many common mental disorders like anxiety and depression. The UP has been widely researched and has been applied to a number of different mental health issues with success.

HOW PSYCHOTHERAPY CAN HELP

There are many myths and general misconceptions when it comes to psychotherapy. The most prevalent is the idea that one has to have a mental health disorder in order to need to come into therapy. To start, there are three general purposes of therapy.

The first purpose is to help a person excel and improve their already “good performance.” You can think of this in strength or cardio training for an athlete. Athletes train, not because they are “out of shape,” instead they train to improve upon their abilities and sharpen their skills. Therapy in this form is design to help a person improve stress management, raise a person’s emotional resiliency, increase their ability to have more moments of “peak performance,” and expand their sense of satisfaction and happiness in life.

The second purpose of therapy is to reduce or mitigate problems in the early stages. These can be things like a loss of a loved one, a set back in one’s career, or a major breakup. These situations, while universal to most people, can be the seed to additional struggles and hardships in life (i.e. loneliness, sense of inadequacy, etc…), and therapy is designed to help a person bounce back from these emotionally difficult situations. An analogy can be made to having a dental cavity that needs to be filled. Left untreated, the cavity can progress to something worse, and getting help now for the cavity prevents further problems later.

The third purpose is the on-going treatment and maintenance of any issues or struggles. This is often the type of therapy people think of when thinking of psychotherapy. This type of therapy can take months, if not years, and often require a significant amount of time and energy. An analogy can be made to having high blood pressure or diabetes. In both cases, treatment and is minimize the effects will have on a person’s life and prevent the issue(s) from getting worse. In therapy, the goal is ultimately to try to prevent additional long term struggles from arising and/or prevent any struggles from getting worse. In this stage, hope that things will change may be hard to maintain, but with treatment and effort, a person is often able to have a fulfilling and satisfying life.

HAD A NEGATIVE THERAPY EXPERIENCE?

Finding a therapist who you can truly connect with and grow from is difficult. Dr. Arthur often makes the analogy of finding a close mentor, a coach, or a best friend. It’s hard to know from the “get-go” if two people are going to click. Just like with a mentor, a coach, or a best friend it might take a few meetings to figure out that you two are just not “clicking.”

However, just because one mentor, coach, or friend didn’t work out, it does not mean that the activity (i.e. the sport, the work, or friendships) are not “for you.”

The same can be said about therapy. If you have had a negative experience with therapy, Dr. Arthur will work with you to understand what didn’t work, what did work, and what you would like to be different about your new therapist. The processes of therapy and its related growth is still something that is worth exploring, despite a negative therapy experience. In fact, he encourages all of his clients to be open about their experience of what is, and is not, working for them. This way they can get the most effective and efficient therapy for their money.

Therapy is simply a restart and offers a refresh on parts of, or all of, life. It’s a way to clear out the old, recycling the life lessons, and create a new version of one’s life. Like to painter reusing a canvas, therapy allows us to draw and create a new purpose and meaning, regardless of what is underneath.

If you have any questions or hesitations about therapy, feel free to contact Dr. Arthur for a free phone or secure video consultation. A phone call is a great way to have your questions answered. It is also a simple way for you to get a feel for what Dr. Arthur’s therapy style is like. There is absolutely no obligation to start therapy after the call.

MORE INFO ABOUT THE PRACTICE:

Dr. Arthur’s practice is located just south of Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida. The office has plenty of well-lit parking, including handicapped spaces. Sessions available in the day, evening, and weekend hours. For the convenience and confidentiality of some clients, Dr. Chen offers both in-home and secure video sessions.