Therapists for college students near 15213

Hi! I'm from Pittsburgh and proud to be practicing in my home town. Therapy ranges from directive to less structured approaches. Directive approaches involve identifying a specific problem and starting interventions including skill building for the client. Less directive therapy involves self exploration and understanding our symptoms in an interpersonal context. These two approaches can be combined, tailored to the client. The client's responsibility is committing to therapy, and showing up weekly at the designated time, and engaging in the process. While the therapist is an expert in psychology, the client is an expect in themselves and is ultimately the source of change and improvement. I see myself as a guide, helping the client see things they may have missed or avoided, and making connections that wouldn't otherwise be obvious. The process is collaborative and frequently rewarding.

I worked in university counseling centers for over 10 years before transitioning to full-time private practice, and really enjoy working with undergraduate and graduate students. College and graduate school is often a time to better understand and define who you are and what does and does not work for you and for promoting your wellbeing. As a psychologist, I work to help clients understand themselves better in the unique context and experiences of their own lives so as to figure out what each individual needs to be well, which may be very different than what you think you should need to be well. I also work to help clients not only manage their symptoms and distress, but also understand the root causes of their symptoms and distress. I believe that this deeper understanding can often lead to transformative healing.

I believe in using a holistic, strength based approach that builds on your current assets to help you achieve your goals. I work collaboratively with you to focus on individual whole health, which includes identifying your aspirations and emphasizing empowerment and self care. I have experience creating a safe and warm environment in which to incorporate evidenced based interventions and coping strategies to help improve focus and manage anxiety, grief, and depression. I also utilize expressive arts to help identify unique, creative approaches to help you improve the quality of your life. My background includes over 25 years of experience in community and school based mental health settings with diverse populations including children, adolescents, and adults. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Board Certified Art Therapist.

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Maybe chronic stress, anxiety, or trauma has your nervous system stuck on high alert, so that even when life is relatively stable, you don't actually feel that way. Maybe your past experiences show up now as hypervigilance, tension, irritability, insomnia, or shutting down. Maybe you're managing burnout, depression, relationship struggles, or patterns you just can't seem to shake. Maybe you're tired of merely surviving and ready to actually feel different. With a background in social justice, many of my clients are queer, activists, neurodivergent, and others for whom identity/politics/systemic context are part of their story. We start by helping your body feel safer through various approaches such as biofeedback, breathwork/meditation, or the Safe and Sound Protocol so your nervous system doesn’t have to work so hard. From there, we look deeper at the patterns, relationships, and stories that shaped how you move through the world. We explore what matters to you at your own pace. Our work together isn't about fixing what's "wrong" with you. It's about understanding what has happened to you, how you've adapted, and finding out what is possible when we have more awareness and more options. My approach is a deeply relational one. You're the expert on your own life and I'm here to serve as a supporter and collaborator in the process.

Strong Foundations was founded and is actively managed by a licensed child psychologist, ensuring our practice prioritizes the highest quality of care in psychotherapy and assessments. Guided by the ethical principles of our field, our primary mission is to provide the best possible match between patient and provider. We don’t focus on filling schedules—we take on new clients only when we are confident we have the tools and training to help them effectively. Strong Foundations began in 2018 with a simple goal: to create a team of exceptional providers who work collaboratively to address the mental health needs of our community. We’re proud to have achieved that vision and continue to work diligently every day to maintain the quality and trust our clients have come to expect.

I believe therapy works best as a collaborative relationship rooted in compassion and respect. My goal is to provide a safe and supportive environment to encourage personal insight and provide skills to help you navigate challenges and enhance your overall well-being.

I believe that the therapeutic relationship, the relationship between the therapist and the client, is the cornerstone of therapy and is an essential tool in working through interpersonal issues. I would provide a warm and safe environment in which to collaboratively address your concerns. Therapy would entail learning skills to more effectively cope with your stressors and exploring your understanding of yourself and underlying causes of your difficulties in order to enhance your quality of life. While this process can be challenging, it can also be meaningful and rewarding. I have experience working in community and academic settings with diverse adult populations experiencing a wide array of problems.

Hello! I’m a Harvard-trained, board-certified general adult psychiatrist, based in Pittsburgh. My practice focuses on psychotherapy, and behavioral treatments. I also offer evidence-based behavioral treatment for insomnia. I see adults with with anxiety, depression, panic disorder, insomnia, and with most common mental health problems. Therapists who are warm, empathic, humble, committed to honing their skills, and who make effective positive working relationships with their patients, tend to be most effective. To paraphrase the psychotherapy scholar Leigh McCullough, a therapist should aim to do the most good, in the shortest time, with the least stress for the patient. I believe this is what it means to be patient-centered. I'm accepting new patients for telehealth visits throughout Pennsylvania, or for in-person visits at my office in Shadyside (in Pittsburgh). I accept private pay, and, through the Headway app, selected health insurances (including Aetna & Cigna).

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.

People come to therapy for many different reasons, but, at the core, they are looking for understanding, relief, or growth. Maybe you’re trying to understand why you feel the way you do, or you find yourself caught in the same difficult thoughts again and again. Perhaps you’ve noticed patterns of behavior that seem to work against your own well-being. You might be facing a life transition—chosen or not—and are feeling anxious about what’s next. Or maybe you just feel stuck. Therapy offers a space to slow down and make sense of what’s happening. Together, we can clarify your current experience, explore how you got here, and begin to shape a healthier, more fulfilling path forward.

I work with individuals who are struggling with anxiety, trauma, or overwhelming life experiences. Many come to therapy feeling stuck, weighed down by difficult experiences, or unsure how to move forward. Using a warm, client-centered approach, I provide a supportive space where clients can better understand themselves, process what they have been through, and build the confidence and resilience needed to create meaningful change in their lives. Specializing in anxiety and trauma treatment, including acute trauma. Using a warm, client-centered approach, I help clients feel understood, supported, and empowered to grow. As a trained EMDR therapist, I integrate EMDR and draw on IFS-informed concepts to help clients heal from difficult experiences and build lasting resilience. Taking the first step can feel difficult, especially when things feel overwhelming or unclear. A supportive and focused space is available to help you make sense of what you’re going through and begin moving forward at a pace that feels manageable.

My experience includes 20+ years as at Carnegie Mellon University's Counseling Center and 6 years at Persad Center. The work I do focuses on helping folks understand themselves and feel understood. Working together, we change help you work with difficult emotions,change patterns that cause distress, and nurture a meaningful life, as you define it.

My experiences stem from working with children of all ages within a variety of educational and therapeutic settings that ultimately led towards my work with at-risk children as a Family Based Therapist. Working hands on with families in their homes within authentic and relational setting(s) (i.e., home and community) had shaped my learning experiences and identified my growth as a person and a therapist. My work prepared me to differentiate my therapeutic approaches and enable connections that no traditional clinical experience could offer. Fast forward, working as a Licensed Professional Counselor, I have the privilege to work with a variety of populations, with clients ranging from mild to severe mental health conditions. I offer a warm safe setting that enables a professional therapeutic collaboration and growth towards client centered therapeutic goals. I continue to rely upon evidenced based interventions to help guide our therapeutic relationship towards progress or help uncover potential barriers to that may impede your therapeutic progress.

At times, people need a safe and supportive environment to express their thoughts and feelings. Counseling is an opportunity for people to gain awareness, acceptance, insight, and identify tools for relaxation and problem-solving. By applying complementary therapy approaches and techniques, we will unearth long-standing behavior patterns or negative perceptions that may be holding you back from experiencing a more fulfilling and meaningful life. If you're looking for extra support and guidance through a challenging situation or you're just ready to move in a new direction in your life, I look forward to working with you to achieve your goals.

My approach to therapy emphasizes mindfulness and the development of inner resources to meet the challenges the world presents at every stage of life.

I see one of the most important roles as a therapist to be putting in the work to earn someone’s trust and walking beside them as an accomplice on their path towards growth. I don’t believe that people are “broken” or “need to be fixed”, but rather that somewhere within every person lies the capacity to generate change. I believe this change begins by finding someone trustworthy to support them through this process. And—that being kinder and gentler towards ourselves goes a long way to building the foundation for this change to occur. My experiences span across 15 years, with the scope of my direct work supporting clients in their exploration of gender expression/transition, depression, anxiety, trauma, grief/loss and more- all within Allegheny County. I am also happy to provide evaluations and letters for Gender Affirming surgeries, Green Card Status, and Emotional Support Animals. The world is an often hard place to be, and my goal is to create a space for softness to occur. To not only listen but to hear and understand. To respect through accountability. To address struggles through processing and also through action leading to systemic change.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.