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One incredible thing about our staff at DLC is that they are always looking to get even better at the great work they are already doing.

Two of our clinicians — Britten Grayden and Kylie Sumner — each recently earned prestigious certificates, adding on to their credentials. Both work in our Crossroads addiction recovery program.

Britten, who joined our team in November 2020 and holds a Master of Arts in Counseling for Co-Occurring Disorders, recently became a Certified Addiction Counselor through the Florida Certification Board. To qualify, she had to complete 2,000 hours or related work experience and some form of higher learning. Through the process, she attended trainings for Brainspotting and Eye Movement Desinsitiziation and Reprocessing (EMDR), equipping her to provide trauma therapy.

Britten describes her work like this: “I provide psychotherapy, basically talk therapy, focusing on helping clients learn new ways to relate to their internal and external worlds. We talk extensively about mindfulness, and I encourage the development of a meditation practice.”

Britten says she got into the field “as a result of my own recovery,” and that she wants to help clients “learn how to love and accept themselves and begin to practice using their own internal abilities to cope with and enjoy everything life has to offer.”

Now pursuing a PhD in Psychology, Britten says her work at DLC is “absolutely what wakes me up in the morning and drives me through the day. I get a thrill from witnessing the light come on within a person and see them love themselves and live their lives again.”

“Britten is a passionate, motivated, highly skilled, mindful, positive, and compassionate clinician,” says Erin Lyristakis, Crossroads Clinical Supervisor. “Her motivation and passion drive her to continue to grow her skills to help our clients.”

Kylie, meanwhile, recently earned her certification in Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), which entailed a 24-hour workshop, 50 hours of sessions under supervision, two videos of TIR being conducted, and many documentations. She says she pursued the certification so that she could “provide the best trauma therapy that I can.”

She describes TIR as “a very intense technique” for helping clients who have suffered trauma or major loss. “It can also be used with people who suffer from unwanted feelings, emotions, sensations, attitudes, or pains,” she says, adding that sessions can last anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours, depending on circumstances. A session will end when the client “has thoroughly completed an examination of past traumas,” with the goal of making those memories powerless to continue to cause pain and suffering.

Kylie, who has a Masters in Mental Health Counseling, says TIR is especially effective in combating substance use disorders, because many of those who suffer “have an underlying issue in which they try to compartmentalize and numb, most of these being abuse and trauma.”

Kylie got into the mental health field after working in a prison in another state while pursuing her undergraduate degree. “I spoke with so many offenders not receiving the help they needed, both in mental health services and substance use treatment. Because of this, I knew I wanted to pursue helping people who are often so stigmatized and shunned for their past behaviors and actions.”

She says there are many satisfactions about her job at DLC, including helping those who are in need and watching them progress in their recovery.

Lyristakis describes Kylie as “an amazing addition” to the DLC team. “She is highly skilled, motivated, reliable, professional, and a team player. She focuses on solutions; she sees a problem and focuses on how to come to a solution with clients, herself, and the team. She easily builds rapport with clients to help them.”

A big congratulations to Britten and Kylie for these certifications!