(she/her)
New to Grow
Hi! I’m Clarissa Wadley, LCSW, a therapist, speaker, and founder dedicated to helping Black women and millennials heal, reconnect, and reclaim their lives. Through a blend of evidence-based practices and faith-informed care, I support clients in navigating trauma, relationship challenges, and identity shifts with clarity and compassion. My work creates space for deep emotional healing, nervous system regulation, and renewed self-understanding. My clients often come feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck, and leave with a stronger sense of self, healthier boundaries, and the freedom to live more intentionally, authentically, and whole.
Think of our first session like getting to know a new friend. The whole purpose is for both of us to get a better understanding of each other. I often start by asking you to tell me your “story” and identify the “thing” that made you reach out for therapy. There is no right or wrong answer here, it just helps me to better understand how you see yourself and your experiences.
I like to believe that I am identity-aware in a way that feels lived, not learned. I don’t approach clients like a textbook case study. I get it, culturally, relationally, spiritually. My lived experiences and understanding allows me to name things my clients may have never had language for, which is often where their healing begins. I am also wired for connection and transformation. My natural strengths are empathy, connectedness, and ideation, meaning I’m always linking things: past to present, belief to behavior, wound to pattern, faith to healing. My clients often walk away from sessions with those “something just clicked” moments, and those moments change lives and are the beginning of real transformation. Lastly, l hold both clinical skill and spiritual sensitivity. A lot of therapists lean one way or the other. I don’t. I’m able to integrate evidence-based work with faith in a way that feels authentic, not forced or performative. For clients who have felt like they had to split those parts of themselves, I offer something rare: wholeness.
My dream client isn’t just looking for therapy, they’re ready for transformation with roots. She is a woman standing at the edge of a new season, suitcase in hand, tired of carrying what no longer fits. She is a high-achieving Black woman in her late 20s to 40s who appears “put together” on the outside but feels stretched thin internally. She’s insightful, self-aware, and probably the one others lean on, but she’s quietly asking, “Who holds me?” She may be navigating the weight of past trauma, complicated family dynamics, or relationship patterns that no longer serve her. She’s done surviving, now she wants healing that feels deep, sustainable, and aligned with who she’s becoming. She values both faith and emotional wellness, even if she’s still figuring out how those two languages speak to each other. She’s open, not perfect, not always consistent, but willing to reflect, to be challenged, and to sit with discomfort if it leads to freedom. She doesn’t want surface-level coping skills; she wants to understand herself, regulate her nervous system, reclaim her identity, and live with intention. She’s looking for a bridge between therapy and spirituality, intellect and emotion, survival and purpose. She isn’t looking for someone to tell her what to do or figure things out for her, but she deeply values a therapist who can hold space, ask the right questions, and guide her back to herself. And maybe the most important piece: she’s ready to do the work not just to feel better, but to be different in how she thinks, loves, rests, sets boundaries, and shows up in the world.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Through the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), my goal is to help you become a gentle investigator of your own inner world. We explore how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all in conversation with each other, and sometimes telling stories that aren’t fully true or fully helpful. Together, we slow things down, identify those patterns, and begin to reshape them in ways that feel more aligned with your truth, your healing, and your faith.
Faith based therapy
When it fits for you, I weave in faith-based perspectives, helping you anchor new beliefs not just in logic, but in meaning, identity, and purpose. For me, faith based counseling isn’t about “fixing” you, it’s about equipping you. I integrate practical tools with deeper reflection, and theological exploration, so you can challenge unhelpful thoughts, regulate your nervous system, and respond to life with more intention rather than reaction.