Holistic Jungian therapist specializing in trauma and relationships
Counseling is a process of working through issues that are interfering with you living a full life. In the process of doing this, there is a tremendous level of growth on many levels: emotional, relational, spiritual, existential, even physical. Counseling may at times address very difficult situations, including addressing difficult or painful experiences from your developmental years which are currently impacting you and your relationships.
As a Master’s-level Licensed Professional Counselor in Connecticut, I work with my clients to explore the factors which have led them to pursue counseling: we collaborate to determine our priorities. Recognizing that real change requires more than an hour per week, clients may be assigned homework to complete between sessions, or may be encouraged to read an article or book on a particular subject pertaining to the issues being addressed; we will discuss the homework at the next session as well as suggestions for applying the material to your life. I won’t sugar-coat it: changing how you respond to people or other triggers takes real work and a willingness to change.
Areas in which I specialize include Anxiety and Depression; Loss, Bereavement, and Grief;
Marital and Parenting Issues; and Asperger’s/High-Functioning Autism.
I am also experienced in working with clients who have issues with Anger Management, Life Changes (Chronic Illness, Aging Issues, Employment or Economic Changes), Communication and Conflict Resolution (including Couples Counseling), Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, Equipping Parents to work effectively with their children with AS/HFA, Trauma-Informed Counseling, Family-of-Origin issues, Blended Families, and Home Schooling Families.
My approach to counseling is “eclectic,” meaning that I approach different issues in different ways. Approaches that I draw upon include Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Existential Therapy, Gottman Method, Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Trauma-Focused Therapy. I am very comfortable working with those who have strong ties to their faith and/or ethnic/cultural background. I have been told that I approach my counseling almost more as a marriage and family therapist, as I view clients not as isolated entities, but as people who are influenced strongly by their families and others around them, and who in turn influence those very individuals as well.
As an undergraduate I graduated with my A.A. from a community college in southern California with high academic honors. Then I transferred to the University of Southern California, with a double major in Communication Theory and Public Relations. My B.A was earned with highest academic honors (summa cum laude), and I was inducted into the academic honor societies Phi Beta Kappa (liberal arts and sciences) and Phi Kappa Phi (all-university). I completed my M.A. in Professional Counseling at Liberty University with high academic honors. In addition to being licensed by the state of Connecticut, I am also a Nationally Certified Counselor.
A member of the American Counseling Association and the American Association of Christian Counselors, my mission as a Licensed Professional Counselor is to treat each client with respect, to walk alongside as you work through issues that are troubling you, and to be a part of the process of healing and reconciliation. I look forward to working with you!
Licensed · Professional · Cancel Anytime
Joanne Deal is a master’s-level licensed professional counselor practicing in Connecticut with 9 years of clinical experience. She helps people address the barriers that prevent them from living a full life and supports growth across emotional, relational, spiritual, existential, and physical domains.
Her work can involve confronting difficult or painful experiences from a client’s developmental years when those experiences continue to affect current relationships and functioning. She and each client collaborate to identify priorities and to develop a plan for therapy.
Recognizing that meaningful change often requires effort beyond the weekly session, Joanne may assign between-session work such as exercises or readings and will review how those activities relate to daily life in subsequent meetings. She is direct about the effort required to change habitual responses and expects a willingness to engage in that work.
Her primary areas of specialization include anxiety and depression, loss, bereavement and grief, marital and parenting issues, and Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism.
Joanne also has experience addressing anger management, major life changes – including chronic illness, aging, and employment or economic transitions – communication and conflict resolution including couples counseling, family-of-origin issues, blended families, homeschooling families, and supporting parents of children with Asperger’s or high-functioning autism. Trauma-informed counseling is a further area of her practice.
Her approach is eclectic, adapting interventions to the needs of each person. She draws from Attachment-Based Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Existential Therapy, the Gottman Method, Mindfulness Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Trauma-Focused Therapy. She is comfortable working with clients who have strong ties to their faith or to particular ethnic and cultural backgrounds and views clients in the context of their families and communities.
Joanne completed an A.A. at a community college in southern California with high academic honors, then transferred to the University of Southern California where she earned a B.A. with highest academic honors, graduating summa cum laude after a double major in Communication Theory and Public Relations. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. She holds an M.A. in Professional Counseling from Liberty University, earned with high academic honors.
She holds a Connecticut license to practice as a professional counselor (CT LPC 3739) and is also nationally certified as a counselor. Joanne is a member of the American Counseling Association and the American Association of Christian Counselors. Her practice is grounded in respect and a commitment to walk alongside clients through healing and reconciliation, and she looks forward to working with new clients.
Many people wonder whether virtual counseling can truly help. For common concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, or managing major life transitions, online therapy has been shown to be comparable in effectiveness to traditional in-person care.
One major benefit is flexibility – clients can connect in the way that suits them best, whether by video call, phone session, live chat, or in-app messaging. This adaptability makes it easier to integrate therapy into a busy routine.
Sessions are provided by licensed professionals, and if a client decides they would prefer a different therapist at any time, switching is an available option. For many people, the accessibility and varied communication options make online therapy a practical and effective choice.
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