Anne Holding

My name is Anne Holding and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I am a warm and caring but direct Therapist who believes in human potential. My current areas of focus are in helping clients with past trauma and abuse; including ways they can improve their self-esteem, anxiety, and self-efficacy. I also enjoy helping couples improve their communication skills.

My approach

I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. I am certified in Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis. I also utilize Attachment-based, Client-centered, and Solution-focused therapeutic approaches along with mindfulness techniques.

My focus

My primary focus is on working with adult clients who have suffered past trauma and/or abuse. I also enjoy working with clients who struggle with self-esteem and anxiety issues and clients who are coping with life changes or communication and/or interaction issues.

My communication style

I am warm, caring, non-judgmental but direct. I am very supportive but also offer clients an opportunity to reflect and develop insight into how they can develop agency in their own healing. I share resources to help them gain the capacity and confidence to help them reshape maladaptive coping skills or negative patterns of behavior and make progress.

My journey to mental healthcare

Beginning in high school, I discovered my passion for helping others. I volunteered with sports programs mentoring underserved populations in NYC. I also volunteered in state institutions (now defunct) which were home to developmentally delayed and mentally ill adult patients. After college, I worked in the Corporate world for a while but then shifted to working with non-profits and within the education system teaching parenting skills, communication skills, and therapeutic behavior skills. In the early 1990s, I co-founded a non-profit on a ranch that provided animal-assisted therapy programs as well as outdoor experiential learning opportunities (including a high and low ropes course). We served children and adults from all walks of life and with differing abilities. In the mid-2000s, I began working in Special Education classrooms that were designated "emotionally disturbed" as well as others that served children on the Autism Spectrum. (Note: The goal for students now is that they be mainstreamed.) I went back to school to become a therapist because I gravitate towards helping teach people that they can become more empowered and overcome past negative life experiences in order to live a more centered, happy, and fulfilled life.

My goals for you

I work with clients to help them identify what they need to work on and formulate a plan to achieve desired results.

My first session with you

First, I hold a safe and welcoming space for clients to become comfortable with me in order to develop rapport. I then support clients in sharing or identifying what brought them to therapy and how their lives are being negatively impacted. Depending on the client and their needs or level of acuity, this could lead to an initial overview or exploration of childhood experiences and schemas developed therein.