Hello, my name is Monique Allen. I am a Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Counselor. I received my Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Health from Alvernia University in 2007. I then received my Master of Arts in Community Counseling from Alvernia University in 2013. I became a National Certified Counselor in 2016. I am direct and solution focused. I work collaboratively with my clients to address their needs. My goal is to help clients discover their true potential and authenticity, by providing a supportive, nonjudgmental, empowering space that displays my passion for my profession as well as help clients to believe in themselves and reach their goals.
In the initial session, we will begin with brief introductions, then discuss specific challenges that you are experiencing. This affords me the opportunity to create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
I have worked in a vastly diverse institutional environment for over 20-years. My profession has allowed me to develop my skills for helping individuals and couples by identifying the root cause of a client's challenges and creating a plan that is client specific and leads to measurable progress.
I often use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in my practice. In your first session, we'll explore what brought you to therapy and then decide the most appropriate ways to help you make progress. With CBT, we’ll look at how your thoughts affect your emotions and experience. During treatment, I'll help you learn how to push back against those thoughts to change your feelings for the better.
Reality therapy encourages problem solving and is based on the idea that people experience mental distress when their basic psychological needs have not been met. In my experience as a psychologist in a correctional environment, I have used this method in collaboration with CBT to emphasizes the impact of choice in a client's actions. This helps to creates accountability for the client's behaviors. Therapy is specifically focused on the client's current state and places less importance on past experiences or the presence of mental health conditions.
Supportive therapy helps patients and their families manage the symptoms of a disease or illness, and the side effects of treatment. It doesn't treat the underlying cause of the disease, but it can help patients feel better, have fewer symptoms, and get better faster.
Experiential therapy has been a method used in my 11-years of experience as a psychologist in a correctional environment. Help clients decrease their anxiety by redirecting their focus on their personal responsibility for making decisions.
I help client's (partners) gain a better understanding of negative patterns within the relationship by identifying negative behaviors, which can be changed in order to improve the relationship.