Meet Tom Stagg, LCSW

Often we come to therapy with the intent of fixing an immediate problem.  Yet early on with a client I hear time and again, expressed in many different ways, that “there is something wrong with me”.  The truth of the matter is that there may well be something wrong with a behavior but as a person there is nothing wrong with you. 

My focus is on helping a client identify their strengths and using those strengths to amend behaviors which the client has identified as self-defeating or troublesome.   Psychotherapy has seen many transformations over the years.  Many theories are geared to developing strategies to resolve a problem in the here and now. 

We do our best to resolve the problem and in some cases the client may still struggle in silence.  Sometimes it is necessary to look a little deeper to understand why.  The earlier pioneers of psychotherapy, Freud and Jung, identified our shadow self as a driver of some behaviors. Several years later Bowlby and Ainsworth began working on Attachment theory.  They posited that our earliest relationships to our primary caregivers can determine in large part how we “attach” to other people places and things. 

In a nutshell those relationships determine how we view ourselves.  Am I worthy? Am I important? Am I good enough?  Do I matter?  Are a few of the questions that many of us are left holding.  My disclaimer here is that it is never my intention to blame or demonize a client’s early caregivers.  The goal is to inform the client how those early relationships are impacting how we are showing up in the world today.  We develop themes or patterns in our lives that once identified we can better understand how they impact us and thereby allow us to develop strategies to help us achieve the life we want.

I sincerely believe that the answers to the questions we seek are within us.  One of the goals of therapy is to quiet the chatter in our heads to begin the process of tapping into our inner strengths.  I continually strive to create a safe and nurturing space for a client to move toward their goals.

I am a graduate of Tulane University School of Social Work and I come to this line of work as someone who has been able to derive great benefits from sitting with a therapist.  My experiences have instilled in me the most sincere desire to help people move toward the kind of life they want.

I have designed the majority of my work and continued training in the field of Trauma, Addictions and Mood Disorders as well as those issues affecting our LGBT community.  

You can reach be via phone or text 704-330-3808 or visit my website www.tomstagglcsw.com