Dr. Terrence Kimper, Ph.D.

Psychologist | Clinical

3060 Tamiami Trl N Suite 202 Naples FL, 34103 Show map

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About

Dr. Terrence Kimper is a clinical psychologist practicing in Naples, FL. Dr. Kimper specializes in the treatment of anxiety, stress, trauma recovery, emotional self-regulation, and general psychological suffering.

Dr. Kimper evaluates and treats patients through a variety of methods, including cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, Rapid Resolution Therapy, and mindfulness meditation instruction. He also provides personal consultation, coaching, and help clarifying and understanding complicated or confusing life situations. Visits with Dr. Kimper are typically 90 minutes long and can be either in-person office visits or teletherapy via a secure link.

His practice is limited to adults 21 years or older who have proficiency in English. Zero bias regarding race, sex, gender ID or sexual orientation.

Education and Training

Pennsylvania State University PhD 1977

Provider Details

Male English

Dr. Terrence Kimper, Ph.D.

Dr. Terrence Kimper, Ph.D.'s Expert Contributions

My Answers

Where can I get diagnosed with bipolar disorder?
If you are not in an emergency, get an appointment with a Board Certified psychiatrist. READ MORE
Does killing animals usually indicate psychopathic tendencies in children?
Not necessarily. Many children grow up on farms or where having a few chickens or other animals that are raised for food is totally normal. Others grow up in families in which hunting is totally normal. What is of concern is when the child seems to enjoy cruelty, deliberately causing suffering, or seems to get a charge out of pointless killing. We also look at how they relate to their fellow humans. If we see empathy, consideration, rule-following, respect, and kindness, and we don't see impulsive risk-taking, exploitation, disregard for the rights or feelings of others, and unusual selfishness, then there is less cause for concern. I hope this helps. READ MORE
What is the difference between marriage counseling and couples therapy?
There's not much difference. If the couple isn't married or about to get married, we don't call it marriage counseling. If the focus is on information, suggestions, or education, then we don't usually call it therapy. READ MORE
Can you recover from anxiety disorder?
Certainly, you can. In my view, anxiety isn't a sickness, but it can make you sick. Our bodies don't do well when our mind is feeling threatened for more than a few minutes at a time. Anxiety is usually a looping "stuckness" in which the mind is referencing a prior perceived threat or bad experience and being vigilant, expecting another, getting ready to flee or freeze or fold, and paying little or no attention to either present sensory reality or rational reasoning. The other loop is that when we consistently avoid something our subconscious mind concludes that it is really dangerous and then gives us an emotional response that gets us to avoid it next time. So recovery from anxiety disorder mostly involves clearing prior experiences and stopping the loops. There are specific interventions that are quite effective for getting that done. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
How can you reduce physical symptoms of anxiety?
You'll likely need some help with that. When you notice physical symptoms, your mind is already busy responding to a perceived threat, which is often imagined or expected, rather than seen or heard or smelled. To make matters worse, if we feel threatened by the symptoms themselves, the response is amplified. The physical symptoms will forget to happen if your mind doesn't do that. Often, we are not consciously aware of what set us up to do that, and we don't know how to communicate with our subconscious mind in a way that 1) clears the prior bad experiences or what taught us to expect one, and that 2)helps it to fully realize that that particular emotion is less than useless in the present situation. Even though it was designed and intended to keep us alive, we are rarely dealing with or about to deal with a leopard or a shooter. There are ways of accomplishing that, but it's a professional skill set that most of us don't have. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
What are the causes of psychological stress?
Psychological stress is caused by the mind coding situations or events as a threat to survival or wellbeing and triggering primitive emotional responses in an attempt to get you to do something immediately to neutralize the threat, which is usually either not possible or would create an even worse threat. We feel threatened and stuck and our body gets the brunt of it. The only time we can do anything is now and we can only do it here. A lot of the things we feel threatened by don't physically exist, aren't happening now, aren't happening here or very near, and there's nothing we can skillfully do, and yet the mind is pushing the GET GOING! gas pedal anyway. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
How do you treat psychological stress?
Psychological stress is best treated by diminishing our mind's emotional response to a perceived threat, and by reframing situations or events so they are no longer seen as dangerous. Even when a threat is real and present and actually dangerous, we handle it best without the primitive emotions we are naturally equipped with, and upgrading that response is a key part of the treatment. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
How do I stop uncontrollable anxiety?
You will likely need professional help with that. Uncontrollable anxiety, if it really is that, rather than another physiological response that mimics anxiety, occurs when your mind is acting as if you are about to be killed any minute now and the thing to do is to run like hell or freeze so the predator doesn't spot you. It can be controlled more or less with medication, and there are psychological treatments that are effective in changing the perception of danger and dialing back the emotional response, which is worse than useless even when there is a leopard or an active shooter. See your doctor to rule out a physiological cause. Generally, it's best to try the psychological approach first, because the medications have problems of their own. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
How do you help someone with social anxiety?
I help someone with social anxiety the same as with other anxiety, by getting both their conscious rational mind and their subconscious mind to really get it that interacting in peaceful social situations is not a threat to survival. That often involves clearing prior unpleasant experiences and looking forward rather than inward. Not everyone is going to be interested in him, or like him, or even pay any attention to him, and that says way more about them than it does about him. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Is talk therapy effective for anxiety?
Talk therapy can be an effective therapy for anxiety. Anxiety usually involves a subconscious looping preoccupation with threats to survival or wellbeing, and since the subconscious mind doesn't respond well to reasoning it has to be communicated with in other ways. Sensory-based imagery, symbols, metaphors, and stories are often quite effective in bringing the mind into the present and interrupting the pattern of constantly predicting bad experiences that repeat threats from prior experiences. Therefore, the therapist will need to do much of the talking, because if you're talking about it was the key, it would have worked long ago. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
How effective is talk therapy?
The effectiveness of talk therapy depends on what you need therapy for, the skills and experience of the therapist, the quality of the connection between the therapist and the client, and your openness to the treatment. In some talk therapy, the therapist is rather passive, mostly just listening to you talk. If that were highly effective, you wouldn't need a therapist, just someone to listen while you figure it out. If your car is working fine, mostly, except for one aspect, and you take it to the mechanic, you sort of expect that they will be able to recognize the problem, do stuff to fix it, and restore optimal functioning. The therapist is the one who should be guiding the process, and when that is happening, talk therapy can be very effective. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Does psychotherapy really work for depression?
Cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapy have proven very effective in treating depression. Some people suffering from depression will also benefit from supplemental antidepressant medication, and others with more serious major depression can't really do well without it. Psychotherapy for depression tends to focus on what I call depressogenic thought patterns, helplessness, and hopelessness and on behavioral strategies such as walking, exercise, yoga, and other practices that focus on being active and engaged in the present. Mindfulness practice is also helpful for getting the person 'out of their head' and less preoccupied with negative thinking. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Is IPT a form of CBT?
IPT and CBT are closely related. IPT is used mainly with young people who are having difficulty dealing with the social and interpersonal aspects of their lives. That includes issues such as shyness, communication skills, managing friendships, and dealing with conflict. What they have in common is a focus on the thoughts, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, and feelings that are causing the difficulties. READ MORE
Can talk therapy be harmful?
Talk therapy is a very broad category that includes a wide range of approaches, some of which might be suitable and helpful for a given individual, others not so much. The key factors affecting that are the skill of the therapist, their competency in treating your specific issues, and how they handle what emerges as the talking moves forward. "Harmful" is also a broad category that includes unwanted effects on close relationships, financial drain, re-traumatization, and even social stigma when your peer group looks down or askance at people who go to therapy, which can affect self-esteem. Sometimes talk therapy can be way more talk than therapy and the harm is in the nature of delay in receiving effective treatment. In my view, once the mutually intended outcome is clear, the therapist should be doing a lot of the talking. In addition, a therapist can have hidden or not-so-hidden biases that can negatively affect the outcome. It's generally a good idea to seek a highly qualified professional, to be clear in your own mind what you are looking to accomplish in therapy, and treat the first several sessions as a probationary period, never forgetting that you are hiring them to help you get something useful done that will make your life go better. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Is PTSD treatment effective?
There are several very effective treatments for PTSD. Rapid Resolution Therapy, EMDR, and hypnotherapy focus on interrupting the acute emotional bursts, the unconscious preoccupation with general or specific threats, and mind/brain mistaking non-dangerous situations, perceptions, and events for real threats. CBT and cognitive therapy can be very effective when what needs to be adjusted are dysfunctional views, attitudes, generalizations, beliefs, and habits that tend to perpetuate the dysfunction caused by the mind's processing of the traumatic situations or events. As with any such endeavor, effectiveness is dependent on the skill of the therapist and the quality of the connection they establish with the client. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Can a psychotherapist diagnose psychopathy?
Psychopathy isn't really an official diagnosis, but rather a label for a set of enduring characteristics and tendencies, and is on a spectrum of mild to severely malignant. In my experience, they don't often show up in psychotherapy and so don't get an official diagnosis, except perhaps in correctional facilities. Some of them are very public and reveal themselves very clearly, perhaps more clearly to a psychotherapist, but the conclusion is more in the nature of characterization than a diagnosis. If you believe you are involved with someone with 'dark' personality traits and behaviors, a psychotherapist can be helpful in figuring out what, if anything, you can do. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
What is psychotherapy for PTSD?
Essentially, psychotherapy for PTSD is an individualized treatment that aims to reduce the tendency of the mind to trigger unhelpful emotional responses in situations that are not actually dangerous, to cease unconscious preoccupation with imagined threats to survival and thriving, to be at peace in peacetime, and to develop a more resourceful and reality-based worldview. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
Thyroid Issues?
It may well be, assuming that a doctor is managing your thyroid functioning, that your other issues are unrelated to your thyroid and are psychological in nature. I advise you to consult a psychologist, get an assessment, and, if indicated, get into therapy. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
What's wrong with me?
I suggest that you get a thorough physical exam, with bloodwork, to rule out physiological causes. Then, since your symptoms may well be psychosocial in nature, consult a psychologist, get an assessment, and, if indicated, get into therapy to treat what comes out of the assessment. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE
What causes someone to be a pill addict?
Usually, there is some appreciation for the positive effects of the pills. It can be pleasure, increased energy, pain relief, or relief from anxiety or depression. It becomes an addiction when we can't stand not taking the pills and our brain orients more and more toward seeking, acquiring, and consuming, often at the expense of other responsibilities. Some pills do that, while others don't. If we can't not be depressed without prescribed antidepressants, it's a dependence, but maybe not an addiction. Even when the need has passed, though, coming off some psychotropic medications can be so unpleasant that it seems like addiction and the withdrawal has to be handled very carefully. How that is done depends on the specific pills. I hope this is helpful. READ MORE