Stacey Strassel
I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed School Psychologist, and I’ve spent more than 20 years working with children, teens, young adults, and families. I believe that everyone deserves to feel heard, understood, and accepted. My approach to counseling is warm, collaborative, and strength-based. I take the time to get to know each person as an individual, understand what they are experiencing, and help them recognize their strengths while developing practical tools to navigate challenges. Throughout my career, I’ve supported young people experiencing anxiety, emotional and behavioral challenges, school-related stress, learning differences, attention difficulties, social challenges, and life transitions. I also have extensive experience working with families and collaborating with schools and other professionals to help children and adolescents thrive.
First session
Starting counseling can feel a little intimidating, so my goal is to make your first session feel comfortable, welcoming, and judgment-free. Our first session is simply a chance to get to know each other, talk about what brought you in, and begin figuring out how I can best support you. We’ll talk about the things that are going well, the things that feel difficult, and what you hope might look or feel different with some support. You don’t need to have the right words or know exactly what you need—that’s something we can figure out together. Most importantly, I want you to feel like you can be yourself. We’ll take things at your pace, get to know your strengths and interests, and start building a space where you feel heard, understood, and supported. Whether we’re talking about emotions, friendships, school, family, confidence, or simply trying to better understand yourself, we’ll work together to find what feels helpful for you.
Strengths
As both a parent (raising two children with ADHD) and a counselor, I bring a compassionate, practical perspective to supporting individuals and families. My goal is to help each client feel heard, understood, and empowered while building the skills they need to navigate challenges, strengthen relationships, and improve their overall well-being. I especially value creating a space where people can be their authentic selves and feel comfortable talking about the things that may be difficult to share with others. Whether the client is struggling with emotions, relationships, confidence, school, or simply trying to better understand themselves, I strive to meet them where they are and help them feel more confident moving forward. My goal is simple: to help clients feel understood, recognize their strengths, and develop the skills they need to thrive.
Ideal clients
I especially enjoy working with clients who may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious, misunderstood, different, or unsure of themselves. I strive to create a supportive, judgment-free space where they can feel heard, understood, and comfortable being themselves. I can help clients navigate a variety of challenges, including managing emotions, building confidence, navigating friendships and relationships, coping with school stress, adjusting to transitions, and developing a deeper understanding of themselves. I believe that therapy can be a place to recognize strengths, build skills, and discover that they are capable of more than they may realize. I also believe that parents and caregivers deserve support along the way. Parenting can be challenging, and having a place to feel heard, gain practical tools, and better understand their child can make a meaningful difference. My goal is to support both clients and their families as they work toward greater understanding, connection, and positive change.
Treatment methods
Strength-Based
I use a strengths-based approach to help clients recognize that they are more than the challenges they are experiencing. Rather than focusing only on what feels difficult, we’ll also explore your strengths, interests, successes, relationships, and the qualities that have helped you navigate challenges in the past. In our sessions, I’ll help you identify the things you already do well and find ways to use those strengths when facing something that feels harder. We’ll celebrate progress—both the big moments and the small ones—and use setbacks as opportunities to learn rather than reasons to feel discouraged.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
Person-centered therapy means that I meet you where you are. I believe you are the expert on your own experiences, and my role is to provide a safe, supportive, and nonjudgmental space where you can talk openly about what you are going through. Together, we explore your thoughts, feelings, relationships, and challenges at a pace that feels comfortable for you. At the same time, I use a strength-based approach to help you notice what is going well and identify the qualities, skills, relationships, and experiences that can help you move forward. Even when things feel overwhelming, there are often strengths that may be easy to overlook. We work together to uncover those strengths and build upon them. Rather than focusing only on what feels difficult or what needs to change, I want to help you understand what is already working, what makes you uniquely you, and what can help you feel more confident and capable.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
There are times when clients come to counseling with a specific concern or goal and are looking for practical ways to move forward. In these situations, I may incorporate Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) into our work. This approach focuses on identifying what the client wants to be different, what is already working, and what small steps can help create meaningful change. Rather than focusing primarily on the problem, we explore questions such as: What would you like to be different? When does the problem feel a little easier? What has helped you in the past? What would the first small sign of progress look like? Solution-focused work fits well with my person-centered and strength-based approach because it recognizes that clients already have strengths, resources, and experiences that can help them move forward. My role is to help clients identify and build upon those strengths while developing realistic, manageable goals. I may use this approach when a client is looking for help with a particular challenge, such as navigating a friendship, managing a stressful situation at school, building confidence, coping with a transition, or figuring out what to do next.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
At times, I may incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) into counseling when a client would benefit from understanding the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. CBT can be particularly helpful when a client is feeling anxious, overwhelmed, stuck in negative thought patterns, struggling with confidence, or having difficulty managing strong emotions. Together, we may look at the thoughts that come up in challenging situations and explore whether those thoughts are helping or making things harder. From there, we can work on developing more balanced ways of thinking and practical strategies for responding differently. I may also use CBT strategies to help clients develop practical skills for managing stress, coping with difficult emotions, problem-solving, improving communication, and approaching situations that feel overwhelming. CBT fits naturally with my person-centered and strength-based approach because I don't use these strategies in a one-size-fits-all way. I first want to understand the client and what they are experiencing. Then, when appropriate, we can use CBT tools that build on their strengths and give them strategies they can use both inside and outside of our sessions.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
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Licensed in
- MassachusettsLicense LMHC5953