Vanessa Berry

My name is Vanessa Berry. I believe therapy is collaborative, strength-based, and client-centered. My focus areas of practice are anxiety, cultural issues, life transitions, and stress.

My approach

Change is a process that involves vulnerability, fear, and exploring the current belief system and how those beliefs can affect behaviors and goals. One of my goals in working with clients is to increase their perception of their ability to cope with obstacles and succeed with the desired change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, Solution-focused, and Strengths-based are my preferred evidence-based theoretical approaches.

My focus

My focus areas of practice are anxiety, cultural issues, life transitions, and stress. I have significant experience working with Spanish-speaking clients dealing with cultural and immigration issues.

My communication style

It's important to establish a feeling of safety and comfort when working with clients. I offer different and simple scaling tools to monitor the improvement of symptoms, besides self-reporting. Encouragement and insight into managing and monitoring change is very important and we will be checking in periodically to see where there is progress and where there might be a need to try something different. I love reading and sharing books that clients might find helpful as well as shorter reading materials, depending on a client's interests. I'll want to know what has worked well in the past and what approaches haven't been as helpful. Each client is unique and I tailor the approach accordingly with input and participation from clients. I find genogram work within family systems can be fascinating and very helpful in noticing familial patterns and help in understanding certain behaviors/habits. I will always encourage clients to practice self-care and weave creative ways to do so in sessions.

My journey to mental healthcare

I've known from a very young age that counseling was my target career. The desire to be in a helping profession was always on my mind. This field can be very challenging but rewarding at the same time.

My goals for you

I like using SMART objectives: Specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound. Alternatively, I like to know what approaches have worked well for clients in the past. Goals are fluid and can change over time so it's important to adapt to changing needs and client situations.

My first session with you

The first session involves rapport building and gathering comprehensive information to help guide treatment. This can be challenging for clients, however it's a very important part that guides developing treatment goals with clients.