LMHC, 5 years of experience
New to Grow
My name is Christen Bellace, and I am a licensed mental health counselor and the founder of Unboxing Hope & Wellness. I specialize in helping adults navigate trauma, addiction, eating disorders, and life transitions with compassion and evidence-based care. In my work, I focus on creating a safe, supportive space where clients can feel understood, build resilience, and move toward lasting healing.
In our first session, my focus is on getting to know you and creating a safe, comfortable space where you can share at your own pace. We’ll talk about what brought you to therapy, your goals, and any immediate concerns you’d like support with. I’ll also ask some background questions to better understand your history and current challenges, but there’s no pressure to share more than you feel ready for. Together, we’ll begin to outline a plan for therapy that feels supportive and realistic for you. My goal in that first session is for you to leave feeling heard, understood, and hopeful about the work we can do together.
What sets my approach apart is the combination of clinical expertise and real-world experience I bring to my work. I have provided therapy across all levels of care, including detox, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient treatment. This allows me to understand the full continuum of care and meet clients wherever they are in their journey. In addition, I have served as a Clinical Director at a treatment facility, overseeing care for individuals with complex needs. This leadership experience has strengthened my ability to recognize what truly helps clients move forward—combining evidence-based methods like EMDR, DBT, CBT, ACT, and Motivational Interviewing with a warm, individualized approach. My clients often share that therapy with me feels both supportive and practical: they feel understood while also leaving with tools they can apply in daily life.
I am best positioned to serve adults who are navigating trauma, addiction, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, or major life transitions. Many of the clients I work with feel stuck in patterns they want to change but are unsure where to begin, or they may feel weighed down by past experiences that still affect their daily lives. I also work well with clients who are motivated to heal but need support in building coping skills, regulating emotions, and learning new ways to relate to themselves and others. My approach is especially supportive for those seeking a balance of processing deeper issues while also gaining practical tools to create real change.
I have extensive experience using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in my clinical work. CBT is one of the most well-researched and evidence-based approaches for a wide range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, and eating disorders. In my practice, I use CBT to help clients identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns, understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and learn practical skills to make meaningful changes in their daily lives.
I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and use it primarily with clients who are working through trauma, PTSD, or distressing life experiences. In practice, I follow the 8-phase protocol, beginning with safety, stabilization, and preparation, then using bilateral stimulation to help clients reprocess memories so they feel less distressing and more manageable. I often integrate EMDR with other approaches like CBT and DBT to ensure clients also build coping tools and emotional regulation skills. I find EMDR especially effective because it allows clients to process trauma on a deeper neurological level, often leading to lasting relief and greater resilience.
I regularly use Motivational Interviewing (MI) in my work, especially with clients who are ambivalent about change or struggling with substance use, eating disorders, or other behaviors that feel both helpful and harmful to them. MI is a collaborative, client-centered approach that helps individuals explore their own motivations and strengthen commitment to change without pressure or judgment. In practice, I use open-ended questions, reflective listening, and affirmations to guide clients in identifying their personal values and goals, while gently highlighting discrepancies between where they are now and where they want to be. I find MI particularly effective because it empowers clients to take ownership of their growth and builds intrinsic motivation, which supports lasting progress.
I incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into my practice to help clients build psychological flexibility and live more in line with their values, even in the presence of difficult thoughts and emotions. ACT emphasizes acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action, which I find especially helpful for clients managing anxiety, depression, trauma, and eating disorders. In sessions, I guide clients in noticing unhelpful thought patterns without judgment, practicing mindfulness skills to create space from distress, and identifying core values to inform healthier choices. I value ACT because it shifts the focus from trying to eliminate symptoms to creating a more meaningful and fulfilling life, which often leads to both symptom reduction and greater resilience.
I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in my practice to help clients strengthen skills in emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. These skills are especially valuable for clients who have experienced trauma, as they create the stability and coping capacity needed before moving into deeper trauma processing with EMDR. In sessions, I focus on teaching clients how to manage overwhelming emotions, reduce self-destructive behaviors, and build healthier ways of relating to themselves and others. I find DBT particularly effective as a foundation for EMDR, since clients are better able to stay grounded, tolerate distress, and process trauma safely and effectively once they have these tools in place.