Ann Villinski
I am a licensed clinical psychologist. Over several decades I have worked with people at every stage of life, supporting their goals to connect more deeply with themselves, the people in their lives, and the broader community. In this way I assist people of all ages to recognize their strengths, identify their values, and increase their experience of meaning, purpose, and happiness in their lives. I will work collaboratively with you, within a culturally sensitive and affirmative framework, and draw from evidence-based approaches to tailor a treatment exactly suited to your personal needs and goals. Whether you are challenged by environmental stressors, trauma history, anxiety, depression, identity or relationship concerns--If you are wishing to grow and ready to thrive, I am here to help you.
First session
In our first session together, I will learn as much as I can about your particular needs and preferences for therapy as well as your treatment goals. This means that I will be listening carefully, taking notes, asking questions, and helping you determine whether I might have an approach to your concerns that fits for you. If it seems to you that we can establish a strong working relationship, we will begin to consider together what treatment approach might suit you best.
Strengths
My greatest strengths as a therapist lay with my ability to help you locate, trust and depend upon your strengths. I truly listen, care deeply, empathize with your struggles, respect your knowledge of self, and learn from your lived experience. It is an honor for me to be entrusted with your innermost thoughts and feelings, fears and dreams.
Ideal clients
I work best with people who are ready to take a leap of faith and of trust, believing that it is possible for them to feel better. I want people to insist upon results, to refuse to accept anything less than a sustainable decrease in suffering and increase in satisfaction with their daily lives.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Throughout my years of practice, I have been utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy either singly, or as a part of an integrative approach to treatment, depending upon my clients' treatment goals. CBT works best as a collaborative effort between me and my client in which the relationships between thoughts, feelings and actions are examined and changed to accomplish desired goals. I have also learned how to use some specialized CBT treatments including the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) five years ago, and Transdiagnostic LGBTQ-affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy when the treatment was disseminated three years ago. These are very effective, structured, time-limited treatments which include ongoing assessments of progress, and rely upon 20-30 minutes of weekly reflection in between sessions to maximize success.
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
Five years ago I was trained to administer Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (CPT) by one of its creators, Dr. Kate Chard, and since then have both used CPT in treatment, and guided therapist supervisees in the application of this simple, straightforward, carefully structured and highly effective time-limited treatment for PTSD. CPT relies upon a collaborative approach between me and my clients and assists them to identify "stuck points" in their thinking that have arisen as a result of trauma and continue to affect their functioning in their current lives. Challenging these cognitive distortions promotes significant change over time and in turn, recovery from many of the symptoms of PTSD. CPT both utilizes weekly assessments to track improvements in symptoms and depends upon 20-30 minutes a week of between-session tracking to propel progress in treatment.
Interpersonal
Ten years ago I was trained as a trainer of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and can, and do regularly teach other therapists how to conduct this treatment, which is especially valued for its universal relevance for populations around the world. IPT is a powerful, time-limited approach within which my clients and I work together to investigate the development of "problem areas" and their related patterns across the clients' lifespans by constructing a basic timeline of their most impactful interpersonal experiences. Treatment goals are then agreed upon to address the problem area that has been identified and to reduce its influence upon their current functioning in daily life, particularly in their relationships with others. IPT does rely upon clients intentionally changing their social interactions throughout each week of the treatment, returning to each session to report upon their progress and set goals for the coming week. Changes in symptoms are assessed each week to track improvement.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I received foundational training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) 11 years ago, and have provided Comprehensive DBT for clients ever since that time. I am also experienced in applying DBT to individual psychotherapy. DBT is a powerful treatment that assists clients to reduce or recover from longstanding problems with insufficient or ineffective emotion regulation, helping them change undesired patterns of behavior by learning a simple but effective set of coping skills and then practicing them in daily life. DBT is a highly collaborative treatment that uses daily ratings on a "diary card" to track patterns of undesired emotions and behaviors as well as notate the coping skills that have been applied each day in an effort to reduce the problems. These ratings and notations only need 5-10 minutes each day to fill in the diary card for the week, which we then go over in the next session, identifying which particular coping skills are effective for what problems.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic principles lay at the heart of my training as a psychologist and all of the various treatment methodologies I work with, often with an integrative approach. Psychodynamic psychotherapy relies upon the understanding of early childhood development and attachment as well as environmental factors to make connections with current patterns, both of weaknesses and of strengths, using the insights arrived at by my client to propel desired changes in those patterns.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
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Licensed in
- New JerseyLicense 35SI00386000
- PennsylvaniaLicense PS016637