(she/her)
New to Grow
Hi, I’m Stas Taylor, MBA, MSSW, LCSW-S. I work with adolescents, adults, couples, and families navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, parenting stress, life transitions, burnout, grief, and emotional overwhelm. My approach is warm, collaborative, trauma-informed, and practical, blending evidence-based therapy with deeper insight into attachment, relationships, and emotional patterns. I strive to create a space where clients feel safe, understood, empowered, and supported as they build healthier relationships with themselves and others.
The first session is an opportunity for us to begin building a comfortable and collaborative therapeutic relationship. We will discuss what brought you to therapy, the challenges you are currently facing, your goals for treatment, and any important background information that may help me better understand your experiences. I also believe therapy works best when clients feel emotionally safe and not rushed into vulnerability before trust is established. During the first session, we will move at a pace that feels appropriate for you and discuss which approaches or interventions may be most helpful going forward. Depending on your needs, we may explore topics related to anxiety, trauma, relationships, communication patterns, attachment styles, emotional regulation, family dynamics, parenting stress, or major life transitions. My goal is for you to leave the session feeling heard and supported, with a clearer sense of direction in the therapeutic process.
One of my greatest strengths as a therapist is my ability to integrate evidence-based approaches with warmth, insight, and flexibility tailored to each client’s unique needs. While I draw heavily from modalities such as CBT, EMDR, Gottman Method couples counseling, attachment-based work, and strengths-based therapy, I also recognize that no single approach fits every person or relationship. Clients often tell me they appreciate that I balance emotional depth with practical tools and real-world application. I work to help clients not only understand why patterns exist, but also develop healthier ways of communicating, coping, connecting, and responding moving forward. I also bring a strong trauma-informed and systems-oriented perspective to therapy. I recognize how past experiences, family dynamics, neurodiversity, faith, parenting stress, and life transitions can all influence emotional well-being and relationships. My goal is to help clients feel genuinely understood while creating meaningful, sustainable change rather than temporary symptom relief alone.
I work best with adolescents, adults, couples, and families who are seeking deeper understanding, healthier relationships, and meaningful personal growth. Many of my clients are navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship conflict, parenting stress, life transitions, burnout, grief, identity concerns, or challenges related to emotional regulation and communication. I especially enjoy working with individuals and couples who are insightful, motivated to change, and open to exploring how past experiences, attachment patterns, faith, family dynamics, and coping strategies affect their current relationships and well-being. My approach is warm, collaborative, trauma-informed, and practical, with a focus on helping clients feel understood, empowered, and supported while building sustainable tools for long-term healing and connection.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients better understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physiological responses. In practice, this often includes identifying unhelpful thought patterns, exploring how past experiences shape current beliefs, and developing more effective coping strategies and behavioral responses. My approach to CBT is collaborative, compassionate, and individualized. Rather than simply “challenging negative thoughts,” I work with clients to understand why certain patterns developed, how they may have once served a protective function, and how to create healthier, more sustainable ways of responding. I frequently integrate CBT with trauma-informed, strengths-based, and mindfulness-oriented approaches to support long-term emotional growth and resilience.
EMDR
I utilize Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients process traumatic experiences, distressing memories, and deeply rooted emotional patterns that may continue to impact their present functioning. EMDR can be especially helpful for trauma, anxiety, attachment wounds, grief, negative self-beliefs, and experiences that feel “stuck” despite insight or traditional talk therapy. My approach to EMDR emphasizes safety, pacing, and stabilization before deeper trauma processing begins. I spend significant time helping clients build coping skills, emotional regulation strategies, and internal resources so the work feels supportive rather than overwhelming. I also integrate attachment-focused, strengths-based, and compassion-centered interventions throughout the process to help clients feel empowered and emotionally supported both inside and outside of sessions.
Couples Counseling
In couples counseling, I primarily draw on the Gottman Method, a research-based approach focused on improving communication, strengthening emotional connection, and helping couples navigate conflict in healthier, more productive ways. I work with couples to better understand patterns of interaction, attachment needs, emotional triggers, and the deeper meanings often underlying recurring conflicts. While Gottman serves as a strong foundation in my work, I also integrate additional modalities and frameworks depending on the unique needs of the couple. This may include concepts related to attachment styles, Love Languages, the 7 Primal Questions, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), parent coaching, trauma-informed care, and emotional regulation strategies. I recognize that relationships are deeply impacted by individual histories, family systems, parenting stress, neurodiversity, faith, and life transitions, and I tailor the therapeutic process accordingly. My approach is warm, collaborative, and practical. I help couples build skills in emotional attunement, repair attempts, conflict management, trust-building, and the creation of intentional rituals of connection within the realities of everyday life. My goal is to create a nonjudgmental environment where both partners feel heard, respected, understood, and supported as they work toward healthier patterns of connection.
Strength-Based
I utilize a strengths-based approach across all areas of my practice. This means I work to help clients identify not only their struggles, but also their resilience, values, protective factors, and existing capacities for growth and healing. Many individuals enter therapy feeling defined by symptoms, failures, or past experiences, and part of my role is helping clients reconnect with the strengths and abilities they may have lost sight of during difficult seasons of life. A strengths-based approach does not ignore pain or minimize challenges. Instead, it recognizes that meaningful healing often occurs when clients feel empowered, understood, and capable of change. I integrate this perspective with evidence-based interventions while tailoring treatment to each client’s individual needs, goals, culture, and lived experiences.
Christian Counseling
For clients who desire it, I offer Christian counseling that thoughtfully integrates faith with evidence-based mental health treatment. My goal is not to impose beliefs or provide purely spiritual guidance, but rather to create space for clients to explore how their faith, values, spirituality, and relationship with God intersect with their emotional well-being and healing process. I recognize that faith can be a significant source of comfort, meaning, identity, and resilience, while also acknowledging that some individuals may carry complicated or painful experiences related to religion or church environments. My approach is compassionate, respectful, and client-led. Depending on the client’s preferences, sessions may incorporate discussions of spiritual struggles, prayer, scripture, forgiveness, identity, grief, boundaries, or the integration of faith into coping and decision-making processes.