Alena Garcia (she/her)

I have long worked with teens with issues relating to self identity and discovery. My work was in assisting teens discover who they are in a safe, nonjudgmental environment. My approach was also to respect the lead of my client when determining if they wished to share their identity with their family. My goal was to establish support in learning more about who they were and creating a supportive community.

I have received various forms of training to strengthen my skill set in treating individuals combating depression. My primary approach with depression is use of CBT skill development. I have 5+ years working with children and families dealing with depression. I have extensive history of working with individuals dealing with depression as a result of change of life experiences, grief/loss, and teen peer relationships.

During my tenure of working as a children's and family therapist, most my career has been in treating individuals facing anxiety. My approach in treating anxiety is to assist the individual gain control of their life, by learning skills to combat their trigger with various approaches. With use of mindfulness and other tools, treatment of anxiety has been highly successful with my clients.

With my history of treating anxiety, I feel a strong connection and success with use of Mindfulness Therapy approach. I feel the use of Mindfulness helps client remain in the here in now, which is often the trigger of anxiety.

Working with Children and Families for most my professional career, I have learned that treating a child also requires the need of treating the family. As the child's behaviors are intertwined with the environment.

I feel the use of CBT therapy have the ability to restructure one's thought process and perspective. Often individuals become accustomed to seeing life from a predetermined view point, but with the use of CBT, my clients are encouraged to look at the same issue from a different view.