I  married a girl from New Orleans.  It was at this time I was introduced  to the word lagniappe.  It's pronounced "lan' yap".  It means "a little  something extra."  For instance, if you go to the local seafood market  and buy 10 pounds of crawfish, the extra handful of crawfish that the  owner might throw in free of charge is what the Cajuns call lagniappe.   This section is just that: lagniappe.
 

Making an initial trip to a therapist's office can be a highly anxiety  provoking experience.  For most of us, when we think about talking to a  psychologist our mind immediately roams to scenes from the movie "What  about Bob".  Others have images of some guy with a goatee and a tweed  jacket with the patches on the sleeves who sits there with this look  like there's a gas leak and only occasionally comes to life to ask, "So  how does that make you feel?"  Many prospective male clients think I'm  going to make them watch episodes of Dr. Phil or Oprah and then carry  their wife's purse through the mall.  Quite honestly, if I went to  therapy with someone like that, it would freak me out.  I am not that  kind of shrink.
 

I am the son of a Mississippi Delta cotton farmer.  I often laugh with  my clients that I am "a very over-educated redneck".  I drive a truck, have two kids, and hunt.  I screw up as a husband,  father, and Christian just as much as any of my clients.  What I want  you to know is that I am a broken person who happens to be a clinical  psychologist.  If you are looking for a psychologist that has all the answers, that gives you three easy steps to fix your problems, or has  never really screwed up, then I am not the psychologist for you.  However, if  you are looking for someone to stand in the middle of your messy life and provide a relationship in which you might grow and heal, I might be a  good fit.  I got into this field because I want to provide people an opportunity for restoration and peace.  Now please know, that does not  mean that therapy is always going to be warm and fuzzy.  Not a freaking  chance.  However, speaking personally as well as professionally, I  believe that life, while messy and hard, can be rich and rewarding.  I  believe that psychotherapy can be one avenue with which one can approach  that richness.  Psychotherapy might possibly be the most terrifyingly  rewarding experience you ever have.  It is my hope and prayer that I  might be able to explore that path with you.