Profile / United States
Dr. Carmela Drake, LPC
Alabama
Dr. Carmela Drake - LPC, addictions and life transitions
See online therapy options- Addictions support
- CBT and ACT
- Transition planning
About Carmela
Dr. Carmela Drake is an LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor in Alabama with 25 years of experience. She helps people facing addictions, anxiety, stress, parenting strains, anger, low self-esteem, and life changes. She also supports career and relationship concerns and issues such as ADHD and compassion fatigue.
Her work is practical and interactive. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) alongside Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and client-centered techniques. Sessions often include motivational interviewing and solution-focused steps to set clear goals and small experiments between meetings.
Dr. Drake has a long history in addictions and mental health care. That background shapes how she approaches problems like drug and alcohol use, process and sex addictions, and codependency. She pays attention to how habits, thoughts, and social pressures keep problems going and looks for realistic changes a person can try.
With student-athletes and young adults she focuses on transitions - for example moving from high school to college sports or adjusting after competition ends. She also works with people concerned about money, workplace stress, parenting demands, and questions of life purpose and forgiveness.
Her sessions focus on clear steps: identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, test different responses, and build new routines that fit daily life. People get practical tools they can use between sessions and a plan for moving forward.
To begin, people follow the site's matching process and schedule an initial meeting to map goals and next steps.
How her approaches translate to online work
Drake uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and test thoughts and behaviors. CBT breaks problems into specific thoughts, feelings, and actions and offers exercises to try between sessions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people clarify what matters and take actions that fit their values while learning to accept difficult feelings. Client-centered therapy provides a respectful, listening-based frame so the person leads the topics and pace.Finding the right mix of methods is part of the work. She will review goals and preferences together and pick strategies that fit the problem and the person. That might mean focusing on CBT experiments for anxiety, or combining motivational interviewing with ACT for addiction and behavior change.
The practical benefits of online sessions are fitting meetings into busy days and making short, focused check-ins easier to schedule. Confirm the current session formats before booking so you know how sessions are arranged. Online work can let people try homework exercises between meetings and keep momentum when life gets busy.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
25+ years
Listed in
Alabama
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she focus on?
She focuses on addictions, anxiety, stress, parenting issues, anger, low self-esteem, ADHD, relationship and career concerns, and related problems such as codependency and process addictions.
How does she approach therapy?
Her style is practical and interactive, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, client-centered methods, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused steps to set goals and try new behaviors.
What experience does she bring?
She has 25 years of experience working in addictions and mental health, with a focus that includes young adult transitions and student-athlete issues.
What are her credentials and location?
She is an LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor in Alabama and practices from that state.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
International clients are not currently accepted.
How does cost and payment work?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin a session?
Use the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are not safe, use the crisis numbers.