Why S.E.M.P.É?
Totality of well-being is optimized at S.E.M.P.É. You are not only your emotions. You are not only your thoughts.
Our Mission
S.E.M.P.É. passionately strives to be the premier mental health resource in our community. Our vision is to optimize personal potential through expanding knowledge, early intervention, encouraging dialogue, increasing awareness, and minimizing stigma. A catalyst for mental well-being, S.E.M.P.É. will evolve, grow, and provide excellence in services.
Responsive to the needs of the community, we will continue to foster, and nurture an environment that is safe, welcoming, confidential, and professional. Celebrating and honoring the uniqueness and diversity of the community promoting inclusivity throughout and broaden global community through our clinical, outreach, and education services.
Our Vision
We partner with you through engaging in a manner inclusive and respectful of your cultural identities, diverse approaches and points of view. We build a culture where difference is valued, understanding culture and ethnicity factors to provide exemplary services to our diverse clients. Totality of well-being is optimized at S.E.M.P.É.
You are not only your emotions.
You are not only your thoughts.
The Creation of S.E.M.P.É.
Being exposed to trauma, abuse and life challenges through the eyes of a looking glass and visualizing your journey, the work had to be done to lessen emotions and express thoughts. What would be a better way to share the journey and express the results in the utilization of tools to facilitate the process of altering and responding to restrictions that deter your true being.
Understanding mental health therapy and walking away lighter, freer, and excited to live in your personal journey after healing from wounds, trauma and obstacles in your path, there is nothing better to have resolve and emphasize your strength and potential seeing yourself alleviated from emotional, psychological, spiritual or relational pain.
The most rewarding is to put your work into something that all can utilize and be a part of. Bring change is to achieve and attain goals in your life, emphasizing on the implementation of life-long tools that manifests supportive and collaborative abilities maximizing your full potential. Hence, S.E.M.P.É came to life pouring values of:
- Social – to study how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
- Emotional – engaging those in need to bring back value and virtues, empowering strengths, inner voice conviction, and building blocks to influence interactions with others.
- Mental – believing that to achieve optimal health we must make a commitment to care for mind, body, and spirit.
- Personal Development – empowering people to learn by doing, accept new challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities to grow as an individual, learning and growing together, and applying skills and knowledge collectively.
- Education -promoting the ability to restructure cognitive and behavioral perspectives to understand differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self- concept.
Bringing S.E.M.P.É to life is knowing that you have a part in affecting the life of another human being. Giving hope when people feel hopeless. Inspiring others to be all that they are capable of being, so that they can go out into the world and move forward by helping others.
Our Values
Allows us to study how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. We actively seek out explanation of human behavior as a result of the interaction of mental states and social situations. Examining factors that cause behaviors to unfold in a given way in the presence of others. Studying conditions under which certain behavior, actions, and feelings occur. Concerned with the way feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and goals are constructed and how these mental representations, in turn, influence our interactions with others.
Having the perspective of practicing mindfulness as a virtue or achieving a state of freedom or liberation. Reaching a higher degree of evolution. Engaging those in need to bring back value and virtues, empowering strengths, inner voice conviction, and building blocks to influence interactions with others.
Everyone has strengths, talents, and other resilience factors that have helped them to overcome obstacles. Serving others through their strengths rather than focusing on deficits engender the most successful outcomes. We actively seek out the strengths and resilience factors of the individuals we are privileged to serve and build on those throughout treatment.
Helping individuals lead mentally healthy lives. We believe that to achieve optimal health we must make a commitment to care for mind, body, and spirit. When we ignore our mental health, we overlook the very part of us that helps us to know and achieve our best selves. Delivering a variety of services to support individuals and families impacted by mental illness in ways that help them move towards recovery process than an endpoint in treatment.
We believe that inside every person there is more potential than even himself/herself realizes. Our goal is to help unlock that potential. A joint effort is necessary to want to challenge and stretch yourself in order for it to happen.
We empower our people to learn by doing, accept new challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities to grow as an individual, learning and growing together, and applying skills and knowledge collectively.
We believe in encouraging and cultivating a culture that pursues personal growth, taking the initiative by encouraging opportunities for development within our organization. Talk about setting goals and putting strategies in place to accomplish them, and always be ready and willing to listen and encourage others along the way.
Educating the public about mental health and mental illness working to eliminate stigma, labels and prejudice. Promoting mental health and well-being for all individuals through education and training. Restructuring cognitive and behavioral perspectives to understand differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self- concept.
Leadership Team
Lawrence Devine Sr.
Co-founder, Clinical Director
Lawrence is intensively trained in psychotherapy utilizing authenticity, humor, and compassion for the bravery it takes to make the first step in seeking support. He provides therapy to adults, seniors, adolescents, and the LGBTQ community and has over 13 years’ experience in working in Community Mental Health Clinics, Juvenile Diversion programs, and Residential Program in Florida. A graduate of Carlos Albizu University, he specializes in working with those who are struggling with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, grief, childhood emotional neglect, self- harm, suicidal ideation, trauma and communication issues.
Ecedro Wesselhoft Jr.
Co-founder, Health Administrator
Ecedro provides support and care as the Administrator for S.E.M.P.É. He is able to provide you with information you may need in further understanding what S.E.M.P.É. services would be most beneficial to you.
He has extensive experience in healthcare, provided professional services for various health facilities. Ecedro’s path has led him to become a pioneer in the field of self-help; assisting clients in reaching their goals on a wholistic level to achieve long term positive change. His achievements include a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology/Medical Technology at Clark Atlanta University.
OUR DEDICATED TEAM
Our Team
Dr. Brenda Williams
Let your energy be used to build, not destroy
Dr. Brenda Williams earned her B.S. and M.S. in Psychology from Nova Southeastern University and holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She specializes in providing supervised treatment to severe and persistent, chronically mentally ill individuals involved in the criminal justice system. She believes that therapy is a collaborative process and guides clients to increase self-awareness, gain new perspectives, decrease symptoms, and increase personal strengths to have a more meaningful life experience.
Patrick Frett
The beauty of the soul is constant, continuous and endless
Patrick Frett, has his Masters of Science in Counseling Studies with an emphasis in Psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Individual Therapy. Patrick partners with you in helping you define strengths as a roadmap to overcome barriers. He focuses on using treatment methods that have been researched including: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Mindfulness strategies, to collaboratively work on goals defined by his clients.
Elizabeth Marshall
Say what you mean, mean what you say
Elizabeth Marshall holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Barry University and is currently employed as a Registered Social Worker. Prior to her career path as a clinician, Elizabeth has (15) years of Nursing experience holding a variety of healthcare roles. She brings combined expertise in both healthcare services, clinical operations, and behavioral psychology. Elizabeth’s healthcare background in which she has worked therapeutically with children and adults since 2009.