My Approach

Meaningful change in psychotherapy begins with a safe, respectful, and collaborative relationship. As your therapist, I work to understand your inner experience—your thoughts, emotions, values, and patterns—while also considering the life contexts that have shaped you, such as relationships, work, and past experiences. Therapy is a space for honesty and curiosity, grounded in care, clarity, and mutual respect.

My approach is active, structured, and evidence-based. While insight and understanding are important, therapy with me is focused on helping you build skills, increase psychological flexibility, and take effective action in your life. I work with clients to reduce avoidance, tolerate uncertainty, and face difficult thoughts, emotions, and situations in ways that build resilience and confidence over time.

I integrate acceptance-based and cognitive approaches with trauma-informed treatment, tailoring therapy to your needs and goals. Sessions often include learning and practicing concrete tools, examining unhelpful beliefs, and identifying values-based actions to apply outside of therapy. Growth happens not just through reflection, but through practicing new ways of responding to real-world challenges.

While many factors influence mental health, therapy focuses on what is within your control—how you relate to your internal experiences, the choices you make, and how you move forward. My goal is to help you develop a more flexible, grounded relationship with your thoughts and emotions so they no longer run your life.

Therapy with me is a place to strengthen emotional regulation, clarify values, test assumptions, and build a life that feels more workable, meaningful, and aligned with who you want to be. Finding the right therapeutic fit matters. I aim to offer a space that is warm, thoughtful, and supportive, while also encouraging accountability, practice, and growth.

I welcome people from all backgrounds and am committed to honoring your individuality. Therapy should be a space for exploration, not a place where you feel judged or constrained by external agendas. I believe in fostering an open dialogue that prioritizes your unique needs and values while supporting you as a whole person without imposing my own beliefs.

Therapy Modalities

I draw from empirically supported approaches, including:

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) – addressing trauma-related beliefs, shame, and stuck points to reduce avoidance, allow for healing

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – values clarification, psychological flexibility, and committed action

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – trauma processing and nervous system stabilization

  • Exposure-based and action-oriented strategies – reducing avoidance and building confidence through experience

For couples, I use the Gottman Method (Levels 1 & 2, Seven Principles Leadership Training).

I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation to assess fit, and can offer referrals to help you get to the right therapist for your needs. Contact me to schedule a call.

Areas of specialty.

Schedule a Consultation

I tend to work best with clients who:

  • Experience anxiety, trauma, OCD, or chronic stress that keeps them stuck in overthinking or avoidance

  • Want practical tools to manage emotions rather than therapy that is only exploratory

  • Are open to being gently challenged and questioning unhelpful assumptions

  • Struggle with avoidance, perfectionism, or fear of making mistakes

  • Feel emotionally overwhelmed but want to build confidence, resilience, and follow-through

  • Are interested in values-based living, even when it means tolerating discomfort

  • Want therapy that emphasizes skill-building, accountability, and real-world change

  • Appreciate nuance and are willing to sit with uncertainty rather than seeking absolute answers

  • Are motivated to practice skills between sessions and apply therapy to daily life

 

Welcome! My name is Vanessa.

I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC-D) in New York and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in North Carolina.

I work with adults (24+) in individual and couples therapy, offering practical, evidence-based treatment focused on emotional regulation, resilience, and meaningful change. I earned my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from North Carolina State University, following earlier work at Planned Parenthood, graduate study in African-American history, and a brief stint as a public librarian. These experiences inform my ability to think contextually, communicate clearly, and help clients make sense of complex emotional and relational patterns without oversimplifying them.

My approach to therapy is collaborative, structured, and active. I integrate trauma-informed care with skills-based and exposure-oriented strategies to help clients reduce avoidance, challenge unhelpful beliefs, and respond more effectively to difficult emotions. I pay attention to how past experiences and relational environments shape current patterns, while keeping therapy focused on what is workable and within your control.

My style is warm, direct, and thoughtful. I aim to offer a steady therapeutic space that balances compassion with clarity—supporting insight while also encouraging practice, accountability, and forward movement. I welcome you to reach out to schedule a brief phone consultation to assess fit.

New York Licensed Mental Health Counselor D012839

North Carolina Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor 14892

A little more about me…

I’m based in Central New York and work with clients across New York and North Carolina. Outside of therapy, I enjoy reading, playing board games, rollerskating, writing letters, making playlists, and spending time with my partner and our two dogs, Rosie and Yoko. I’m the author of DBT for Dating Workbook, published in 2022, which can be purchased here.