Susan Hoenninger

Hi there! My name is Susan Hoenninger, and I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with over 25 years of experience. My therapeutic approach to counseling is eclectic depending on a client's particular needs. My areas of expertise include but are not limited to, trauma, domestic violence, treating adult victims & survivors of sexual abuse/assault, incest, and physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. My professional goal is to help clients heal from their trauma and provide them with the tools to do so.

My approach

My theoretical approaches include a humanistic, person-centered modality. I provide psychoeducation initially and throughout counseling to help clients become better educated on specific symptoms and diagnoses and provide them with coping skills. Other therapeutic modalities I use include motivational interviewing, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamics, and/or exploring family of origin and creation issues and how they have impacted a client's current life. I also will employ trauma-focused therapy, anger & stress management skills, parenting skills, exposure and desensitization therapy, and learning effective communication skills, as well as brief solution-focused and problem-solving skills dependent upon the individual or couple's needs.

My focus

I enjoy working with couples and individual adults 25 years or older. I have the expertise in treating people struggling with PTSD, Anxiety & Depression, self-esteem, Anger & Stress, OCD, relationship issues, and individuals who are victims & survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and incest.

My communication style

When meeting with my clients, I try to create a safe, empathic, and trusting environment with the goal of making them feel comfortable by being attentive, honest, and direct but always warm and kind, and non-judgmental in my comments and questions. I try to gather their information for assessment and goal progress by providing good listening skills and offering suggestions and psychoeducation. I also employ humor in my sessions and, when appropriate, will sometimes self-disclose if it is relevant, helpful, and educational.

My journey to mental healthcare

I have always wanted to be a helper throughout my life and struggled with what career path I should take to accomplish this. I have always been an empath and a good listener with helpful advice when asked, and some of my friends suggested I look into becoming a therapist. I am a huge advocate of therapy and feel that anyone sometime in their life could benefit from receiving therapy when struggling with issues or managing feelings and emotions. It is a strength to have the courage to ask for help, never a weakness. I too have received therapy for certain issues I struggled with during my lifetime. As a therapist, I feel there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a client make progress on their goals and hearing them say they are feeling happier and emotionally, physically, and mentally healthier, and that getting therapy made a difference in their life.

My goals for you

The goal-setting process is driven mostly by my clients, with my assistance when needed, to set specific goals. I explore what has worked in the past for them and what has not, and what they would like to accomplish in therapy. I also will assign certain homework assignments as a client works towards meeting their goals. I will make suggestions based on the issues they bring into therapy, but it is ultimately my clients who decide what they want to address, how they will know when progress is being made, and the timeline in which they wish to accomplish said goals.

My first session with you

During an initial session, I will become acquainted with the client, asking questions, and inviting questions they may have for me. I will be collecting information for assessments with a person-centered approach and in the safe and warm environment discussed above. Information gathering will always involve asking questions as to what brings a client into counseling, their specific symptoms and issues, family or relationship dynamics, and contributory factors, and if time allows, during an initial session, providing the client with psychoeducation and resources to read, explore or listen to before our next scheduled session. Their expectations of counseling and mine (or Path's) will also be discussed during the initial session.