Brian Strode

Services for Change22 are primarily managed by Brian Strode. Brian is a Virginia Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a New Mexico Professional Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LPCC), and a Evergreen Certifications Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional (CIMHP). In his nearly 15 years of experience as a mental health professional, Brian has gained extensive experience and training in providing counseling for trauma, burnout, compassion fatigue, emotion regulation, and stress management, among others. He has worked in crisis counseling throughout his career in addition to his outpatient counseling practice. Brian was a career Paramedic/Firefighter before graduating with his Masters in Counseling from Old Dominion University in 2009. Motivated by what he observed during his fire department experience, Brian became a counselor with the intent to understand and help improve the mental health of professionals in high-stress, high-risk, and high-trauma careers while also seeking to lower the stereotypes and stigmas that often prevent these professionals from seeking their optimal mental fitness. Brian uses an integrative mind/body approach to his counseling methods; adding such things as mindfulness exercises, meditation/prayer, physical exercises, consultation with general and nutrition healthcare providers, and other focuses on physical health and fitness to his traditional Western mental health counseling techniques. His primary goal as a counselor is to help people achieve their optimal mental and physical fitness by properly processing their emotions and stressors in the professional counseling environment while learning and practicing credible research-supported healthy lifestyle habits that improve mood, esteem, success, relationships, and other important areas of the person's life. In his personal time, Brian enjoys spending quality time with his wife and children, traveling, learning history, and playing and watching sports and music. He enjoys baseball and ice hockey as well as playing the drums. He also enjoys running and is currently on a personal mission to run a race in all 50 states.