Psychodynamic Therapists in Whittier, NC

I specialize in working with adult individuals and couples/families providing mindfulness and skills based psychotherapy. Let’s find new ways to work with old problems. For over 15 years I have specialized in working with the mind and the body using both traditional therapy and mindfulness techniques. This skills based approach, using non-violent communication and relationship enhancement therapy, a skills based learning approach to improve communication and empathy interpersonally. Let’s collaborate to find practical solutions and reduce your life stressors.

Thank you for taking the time to seek counseling. That is a huge step to trigger the change you want in your current situation. Congratulations! As a psychotherapist, I strive to provide a comfortable and nonjudgmental environment where my clients feel heard. I utilize an eclectic approach,  using a variety of tools according to the situation that the client presents.

Hi there! My name is Briana and I am here to support you through various challenges and transitions. We can oftentimes feel frustrated, stuck, or anxious - whether this be as a spouse, parent, employee, or just feeling overwhelmed as a human in general. We can all experience getting to a place where we feel completely numb & just trying to survive. You might feel like a hamster running on its wheel, feeling completely stuck and going nowhere, unsure of what to do differently. Maybe you're trying to heal on your own from the things that you never talk about, and are in need of someone who can listen & validate your emotions.

I have been a clinician for 18 years and have found it one of my life’s greatest honors to be with people as they learn to be with themselves. My experience has been, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and behavioral concerns. I am dedicated to creating a safe place to explore with clients the changes they wish to make to improve their overall functioning. Building a relationship with clients is the most important and finding a good fit is crucial! My theoretical orientation is based in Gestalt therapy and I also have training and experience in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and EMDR.

My ideal client is one who is interested in finding happiness in love, work and community. My reward during my 30 years in practice is to experience, with individuals and couples, their growth towards these goals. Years in private practice and a major medical setting in New York have given me a broad background in helping people cope with the many challenges life hands them and to help them regain their feelings of hope. Additional focus is placed on life transitions including divorce, retirement, and bereavement. Additionally, I offer guidance in helping your children and teens navigate those challenging years.

Thanks for taking the time to consider me for potential counseling. You must be experiencing a time of significant distress during this part of your life. I’d like to help if I am a good fit for you! Mental health counseling is an investment in the quality of your life. That’s what we are trained to do, assist persons who can’t seem to find a way out of their suffering and negative circumstances. It offers a combination of human support, professional guidance and evidence-based psychoeducation.

Founded on a person-centered approach, I believe that the professional relationship is a large part of the therapeutic work. Although I integrate several evidence-based modalities including cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness, somatic, psycho-dynamic, & motivational interviewing interventions, I welcome any presentation for both adults as well as youth.

After 24+ years of practicing in community mental health agency settings and supervising and training clinicians, I am transitioning into private practice in order to more directly serve individuals and families who are struggling with issues of functionality, relationships, identity, self-esteem and other manifestations of life challenges. I have extensive experience working with trauma, mood disorders and behavior disorders and I work exceptionally well with adolescents and young adults although I feel comfortable working with adults of all ages. When you want to better understand your particular challenges and make positive changes, I can assist with your healing/growth process.

My approach to helping: I see life as a journey. Sometimes we get in a rut and have difficulty getting out, or sometimes we think we are on the right road and things turn out differently than expected, leaving us devastated and not knowing how or what to change. At times, we are unaware of our repeated patterns or how early life experiences have affected us. At the time, we usually do the best we can with what skills we have. Sometimes, we have to change our unhelpful coping skills and develop strategies and skills that will help us be happier and more functional people. Life is a journey, let's take it one step at a time.

I am a contemporary, psychodynamic/analytic oriented psychotherapist, who will work with you to move through emotional obstacles to create pathways for deeply fulfilling change in your personal and/or professional life. My approach is based on understanding the combination of your past experiences, current situation and future hopes. I am both supportive and analytic in helping you move into underlying causes of distress. I work with couples, adults and pre-teens/teens who suffer from anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, career considerations and major life transitions including fertility, parenting, sexuality, divorce, affairs, empty nest. I welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation and needs.

At some point during the complex journey of life we all experience stuck points, emotional suffering, and sometimes an emotional crisis. It my deeply held belief, however, that we all have the innate ability to recover, heal and thrive. Providing an environment that facilitates healing and resilience is tremendously life-affirming work. I trust that each one of us has tremendous wisdom and strength. In partnership, we identify growth areas, goals, and strategies. Although it is essential that therapy is nurturing and nourishing, it is also hard work. I admire anyone who has the courage to push themselves out of their comfort zones.

Therapy can help you understand how past experiences impact your daily life and relationships. By recognizing these patterns, we can begin cultivating lasting change in our interactions and relationships. Most of my clients want to improve their relationships, their sex life, or explore their identities or transitions. I specialize in sex and relationship therapy, enhancing intimacy and desire, improving differences in desire, and working through pain or dysfunction, particularly within the queer community. I also offer psychological evaluations to clarify diagnoses and collaborate on treatment recommendations.

I support long-term couples struggling with conflict and disconnection who may feel unsure how to solve their challenges or rekindle their loving dynamic. I help couples improve communication skills, identify and express underlying vulnerable emotions, and ultimately deepen their intimacy and romantic connection. I also support folks with dysfunctional family and/or religious histories, who are interested in alternative healing approaches. This may entail witnessing the pain and patterns of the past, and then potentially reclaiming and reimagining their relationship with spirituality.

You may be struggling to find yourself, to know what you want to do or how you want to live. You may know that something needs to change but change feels impossible. You may have spent years feeling misunderstood, not good enough or insignificant. Emotions may feel overwhelming or you may spend most of your time feeling shut down and disconnected. You want to discover how to navigate the world in ways that honor who you really are and rewrite your beliefs about yourself and others in order to feel more connected and fulfilled. Change is hard, it always is, and I will hold the hope for you until you're ready.

As a psychodynamic psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience I believe you are coming to me as a fellow pilgrim, journeying toward healing that comes when deepest concerns are shared safely with another human being. My approach invites reflection and the creation of a space where you can move at your own pace. When you tell me your story which may be painful, even terrible for you, I desire to stay with you and provide emotional presence especially when the going gets rough.

So many of us feel stuck in life. Burdened by the weight of our personal history, and constrained by our fears and self-doubts about the future, it can feel increasingly constricted. We struggle to find our bearings as we're confronted with the consequences of prior choices, many that don't make sense to us when we look back at them. Therapy allows you to slow down, to lay everything out before you. It's a chance to honestly and compassionately address the parts of self you'd like to change and to remember and reclaim the parts of self you've lost, particularly the ones that made you feel alive to the possibilities of what could be.

I provide individual therapy services to adults of all ages, and am licensed to practice in NC. I have over 20 years of experience working with clients of various backgrounds and life situations. I worked for years providing therapy in adult community mental health settings, a college counseling center, as well as experience serving as a Mental Health therapist for Native American/tribal population. I am well experienced in treatment of anxiety (including OCD, Generalized Anxiety, Phobia, Panic Disorder, etc), depression, grief/loss, codependency, life adjustment/transitions, family of origin issues, and PTSD.

Sometimes our current way of being ourselves feels stuck. Perhaps something in you feels unhealed, unwell, dead, or disconnected, incapable, or inaccessible. There are innumerable ways to speak of a rich and fulfilling life, but I believe one thing required is a feeling a wholeness and integration in our way of being. Trauma, pain, shame, stuck patterns of disconnection – there can be many obstacles to a thriving way of being ourselves. If you can relate to this, I say with compassion: “Welcome!" I work with individuals and couples who want to cultivate deeper connection and fulfillment in life.

Seasoned trauma specialist & psychotherapist dedicated to co-creating a meaningful healing journey for individuals and couples who are feeling stuck, lost and trapped in dysfunctional patterns. I offer a variety of different modalities including Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) to aid in the recovery of many common mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma/PTSD, addiction, etc. Additionally, I am committed to providing innovative programing as well as a practical skillset, specially designed to address personal limitations that often manifest in low self-esteem, relationship challenges and declined mental health.