Alana Dunn

Alana Dunn has been providing therapeutic services for 22 years and approaches her work with high empathy and transparency, which lead to a strong therapist/client relationship. Alana believes that without a strong relationship, the difficult work of healing cannot be done because the client never fully trusts. Alana started out working with Domestic Violence victims and their children at a shelter, simultaneously running the county's crisis line. Alana then went on to work with adolescents in a group home setting. Further experience was gained at a non-profit providing therapeutic services and, finally, in private practice.

My approach

Alana approaches therapy with curiosity, seeking to fully understand and for the client to feel fully understood. Alana uses CBT/DBT, mindfulness/meditation, and psychoanalysis. In addition, TFCBT, Gottman, Family Systems, ERP, and Brainspotting.

My focus

Individuals, couples, and families. Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, OCD, Life Transitions, Stress, Divorce, Pregnancy and Postpartum, Family Conflict, DV, Parenting, Relationship Issues, LGBTQ, and grief.

My communication style

Alana's approach is high empathy and transparency. Alana often weaves in her sense of humor to build rapport. Alana creates a safe space for the client and is able to hold some of the heaviness that the client may be experiencing. Alana provides a calm, laid-back environment. When necessary, Alana is also direct and challenges thinking patterns, and pushes growth.

My journey to mental healthcare

Alana has always had an inquisitive mind and wanted to know "Why." Although this is normal for children, Alana would spend time researching to find the answer. This personality, along with experiences growing up in a toxic/dysfunctional home, drove Alana to become a therapist. The intense need to understand why people treat each other in ways that create trauma piqued her interest in going to college to be a therapist. Along the way, learning about generational trauma and having the opportunity to "break the cycle" was a very healing process for Alana. Alana believes that her lived experience, along with her professional experience, provides a unique ability to understand and connect with clients. In addition to a Master's Degree in Counseling and being a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Alana has received the following training: Law & Ethics, Family Therapy, TF-CBT, Understanding Human Resilience, Psychology of Resilience, Psychology of Gender, Cultural Humility, Parent Empowerment, Applied Principles of Functional Behavioral Analysis, Brainspotting, Oppositional, Defiant and Disruptive Children and Adolescents, Mood Disorders, Reflective Practice in Supervision, Brief Therapies, Love and Logic, ADHD.

My goals for you

Clients are always included in the goal-creation process in the first 1-2 sessions. Alana feels it is important for goals to be strength-based versus focusing on the negative. These goals are revisited periodically to assess progress. Alana assesses progress through scaling, self-report, and observed body language. Clients are praised throughout treatment in order for success to continue. When the client has made significant progress, treatment will titrate to every other week and/or monthly, then ending services. Sometimes "booster" sessions will occur monthly to ensure the client maintains the achieved goals.

My first session with you

The assessment process is very important to Alana as it is the "first impression" and a great opportunity to build rapport and give the client a glimpse of her personality and what to expect in sessions. Alana explains the assessment process, gives her professional history, and allows for questions. Alana acknowledges the feelings that may occur when intimate questions are asked by a stranger, in order to normalize the client's experience and decrease anxiety/apprehension. Alana then completes assessment questions and spends time building rapport when discussing difficult subjects. Questions are encouraged, treatment goals are created, and scheduling of the next session occurs.