Welcome! My name is Beverly, and I am a licensed mental health counselor. I’ve been in the field for over 25 years, and this career is still as exciting as it was on Day 1. My Counseling degree is from Indiana University, undergraduate degree is from Purdue University. I worked in the Philadelphia area for 14 years before moving back to Indiana and continuing my counseling practice. Small town to big city, inpatient and outpatient, I’ve loved it all.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
At our first meeting, I will invite you to tell your story. What is happening in life that led you to reach out now? How do you see the problem? How much power do you feel in finding a solution? Of course, I will ask the typical counseling questions, and I hope you will have a sense of how therapy can be useful. We will begin, in that first session, to plan next steps if appropriate. We'll explore your perspective on the issues you're facing and how much control you feel you have in finding solutions. My goal is for you to leave the session feeling hopeful, heard, and genuinely cared about.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My strengths as a therapist: -Helping clients feel comfortable sharing their stories. -Deeply understanding your individual perspective and challenges. -Helping you find the hope necessary to tackle tough issues. -Respecting your journey. -Ensuring clients feel understood and empowered.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
You may have had the experience of being in a bad space emotionally, but when people ask how they can help, you have no idea what to ask for. Or maybe you recognize that you are off of your path. You can't put your finger on how or why, but you feel it in every ounce of your being. Things that once nurtured you are no longer available or as effective as they once were. You are looking for next steps, or answers, or hope. You've come to the right place. Together we can sort things out, helping you see your path, your peace, your journey more clearly. You are worth the investment!
About Beverly Leonard
Specializes in
Serves ages
Licensed in
Accepts
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
When anxiety, depression or stress interfere with everyday life, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy offers coping skills to help you see improvements quickly. A small shift in how we see ourselves and our life around us can drastically decrease symptoms. You can’t always control what happens to you, but no one can take away your right to respond in a way that promotes your healing and emotional wellness. We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails.
Trauma Informed Care
Sleep avoidance, being on edge when you are around other people, feeling emotionally overwhelmed, or being haunted by events from the past can be caused by experiencing trauma. Trauma Informed Therapy focuses on creating an environment of emotional safety. This approach encourages you to explore pain points in a way that does not overwhelm you.
Compassion Focused
My compassionate approach to therapy can help you see yourself through a more compassionate lens. Compassion helps you move beyond how you are defined by others. This approach encourages you to recognize your value, instead of being defined by others.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
A Culturally Sensitive approach is essential to the therapeutic relationship. The focus is one of celebrating you as an individual, acknowledging the uniqueness of you as a client, and also making space for the grief, anger, sadness, and anxiety that results from being "othered" in the world. The focus is on empowerment of the self in the context of a society that often limits and minimizes our experiences and expertise, based on race, gender, sexual identity, age, disability, poverty, or diagnosis. Culturally Sensitive Therapy acknowledges that some of us carry more of the burden than others when systems are broken. This culturally in-tune approach helps you learn to take up space when society might not give you that space easily.
Positive Psychology
With a Positive Psychology I will help you identify your strengths, so you can truly lean into your calling. You were born with amazing gifts. Those gifts sometimes hide behind life’s demands and social messaging. We will take a realistic look at the gifts you bring to the table, so you can really put those strengths into action.