Although credentials and treatment approaches are important when selecting a therapist, comfortability and being able to establish a rapport with your therapist is even more important in terms of the counseling relationship and your outcome in counseling. It’s up to you to think about the type of person you imagine yourself opening up to. Here’s a little more about your potential therapist....

JAWASKIE L. DEAL, LPC, NCC

Jawaskie is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a National Certified Counselor. He is trained in Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and TeleMental Health by the Telehealth Certification Institute. 

Jawaskie is a native of New Iberia, LA. Upon graduation from high school, he went on to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Immediately after, he was accepted into graduate school at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX, where he completed his Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. 

During this time is where Jawaskie found his passion for working with adolescents and young adults. Jawaskie interned for over 700+ hours with the Youth Opportunity Center in Lafayette, LA. This position focused on facilitating both juvenile and adult Cognitive Behavioral Therapy groups and changing offender behavior groups. This position also created opportunities for extensive experiences with teen and young adults within the court system. 

Jawaskie also worked for the 15th Judicial District Juvenile Drug Court Program in Lafayette, LA. From this experience he was able to learn more about diversion programs for teenagers and how they create opportunities for second chances for the youth. In addition, this position created exposure to gain insight into adolescent addiction and substance use. 

Upon leaving the 15th Judicial District Court, Jawaskie would then join the 16th Judicial District Family Service Division where instruments and assessments such as the JIFF, Savory, and Maysi-2 were used to provide various services for struggling families with truancy and early childhood behavioral issues. 

Wanting to gain more insight into family counseling, Jawaskie would then go on to work as a Functional Family Therapist (FFT) for three years. While working as an FFT therapist, Jawaskie was able to provide outpatient counseling services across the Acadiana area. This evidence base model focuses on learning family behavioral patterns involving the adolescent, demonstrating how those behaviors are relational to the household and providing possible solutions to interrupting those behaviors. 

To continue in diversifying his skill set, Jawaskie began working as a Licensed Mental Health Professional with Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) services. Jawaskie provided individual counseling and other clinical services to clients enrolled in ACT. This population of clients meet the requirements of need for High Intensity Outpatient services; and all are diagnosed with at least one of four psychiatric diagnosis; major depressive disorders, schizophrenia, schizo-affective, and/or bipolar disorder. Client ages ranged from early to middle adulthood. 

Jawaskie is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota, a professional academic honor society for counselors, a member of the Louisiana Counseling Association and a graduate of Leadership Iberia Class of XXII.