About Me
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and have been licensed since 1996 (23 years, welp!) and I have worked with clients with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, attachment related issues, and a wide variety of trauma related situations, particularly with military personnel and first responders. I also have extensive post graduate training in areas related to adoption, custody, and child abuse. I am qualified as an expert in these areas in several court jurisdictions in Florida and have worked internationally as well (Japan and Europe). My doctoral research areas were Case Conceptualization and Attachment/Adult Psychopathology
My counseling style is warm and interactive. I believe in treating anyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion, and I don't believe in stigmatizing labels. My approach combines cognitive-behavioral, solution focused, psychodynamic and developmental based counseling. I am well trained in other modalities as well. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs.
I understand that it takes courage to seek help, and it's not easy to face fear. I do not believe that "you are your diagnosis". Rather, I will view you "as a a unique individual facing some challenges".
If you are ready to take that step I am here to support and empower you.
I look forward to working with you!
Specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
- Parenting issues
- Depression
Addictions , Family conflicts , Grief , Intimacy-related issues , Eating disorders , Sleeping disorders , Anger management , Self esteem , Career difficulties , Bipolar disorder , Coping with life changes , ADHD , Abandonment , Read more...
Clinical approaches:
Attachment-Based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, Psychodynamic Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy
Services Offered
Messaging
Live Chat
Video
Licensing
LMHC #MH6285 (Expires: 2023-03-31)
Reviews
These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Susan Boklaga. We don’t pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.
Exactly what I needed. Absolutely love her.
After only just starting sessions with Susan I cannot explain how helpful and insightful she has been for me. It really has changed the way I go through my day and helped me in more ways than one.
Susan Baklaga is a good listener, with a practical, down to earth approach. She’s helped me navigate my concerns with a clearer perspective. As well as, guided me with different tools so I can better triage and work through my concerns. I would recommend her.
Susan is so understanding and the perspectives that she places are so eye opening. She is really helping me get through the ugly I’ve been through.
She has been extremely helpful to me
Very direct and straight forward, tells me exactly what I need to hear not what I want to hear
Susan is very direct and honest. If you want or need someone who cares about your welfare, but will not sugarcoat their advice, she is a good choice.
I am not sure how I would have made it through this season without Susan as my therapist. She is kind and strong at the same time. She does not sugarcoat. She was the kick in the pants I NEEDED to address the junk that was still in my heart and face healing. I will always have in mind FACTS OVER FEELINGS while addressing my day-to-day thoughts and actions.
THANK YOU SUSAN!!!!
Susan has been the best therapist i’ve had and i’ve never felt more comfortable and in a safe space then with her. Our age difference did make me a little nervous at first but she really has a gift with connecting to people and i couldn’t be more grateful. She has helped find tools to cope with my anxiety, depression, trauma, as well as find structure in my life. She was tough when i needed it, kind, and the most helpful. I highly recommend her to anyone who is struggling with anything similar!
Susan is amazing. She really take the time to listen and get me to express what I’m thinking and feelings. She provides great insight and just overall I walk away from my sessions feeling empowered.
I loved talking to Susan. Always felt like she was listening and it felt great to gain different tools to help me overcome my anxieties. I was not ashamed to talk about things that bothered me and this was a wonderful experience.
Excellent!
I got to work with Susan for over two months and I had a super positive experience. I’m pretty new to therapy, and Susan made me feel extremely comfortable and understood. I was a little nervous to have a therapist a lot older than me, but I thought we had a great dynamic since we both had different perspectives. I believe I am in a better place today in terms of dealing with my anxiety, compulsive behavior, etc.
Susan has shown such a great amount of support. I highly recommend her!
Susan is an incredible human that I absolutely have the pleasure of having as my betterhelp therapist. Susan understood me to the fullest degree, listen intensely and made sure to hear all of my problems. Friendly, and professional with time management. Thank you Susan!
Susan is a great support for me during this period in my life.
I like Susan a lot, this was our second session and I feel like it has made a difference already in the way I feel.
I love her honesty and suggestions to help me
Susan helped me immensely through a very difficult time. She gave me the tools to choose more helpful thoughts. She consistently and patiently reminded me to use the tools when I got off track with negative thinking. Susan helped me to re-write the decades old scripts that I kept playing to keep myself in fear and anxiety. I learned that walking on eggshells was a strategy I learned to survive childhood it was no longer a strategy that helped me as an adult. I was so blessed to receive help from such a masterful therapist.
I have already recommended better help to multiple friends. I have had such a great experience with Ms Susan! She is kind, understanding and a great listener. I always feel heard and that my primary concerns are understood and addressed.
So far, so good;)
Susan is a awesome person. And know how to counsel. And listen to what I have to say
We have had three sessions i believe. However she has been absolutely amazing at what she does. I have a lot going on and she has been right there ever step of the way helping me through my issues while also being very informative and helping me to connect the dots. I can’t wait to see how far this takes me. Thank you Susan
I like her, she makes it easier to open up and speak about about things you never you ever talk about. So, I appreciate her for that.
Susan helped me uncover some great attributes I had no idea I had inside of me. She helped me breakthrough every single struggle I faced and created such a warm and safe space for me. No matter what you’re going through, Susan’s got you covered
Susan was extremely helpful to me in my situation. Her direct approach quickly put me in a comfortable space that allowed me to ope up and get right into dealing with the issues that prompted to me to seek counseling. She was very attentive and checked in on me regularly but most important she focused on getting me to a point that I had some tools to navigate through my issues on my own and make to some personal changes that bettered my perspective on my situation. I would recommend her to anyone seeking real personal change.
She’s easy to talk to.
Susan is highly skilled at her craft and has helped me immensely in a short time!!
Susan was great at listening to me and she asked good questions. She helped me with efforts to make positive cognitive changes in my thinking and patterns.
I really enjoy talking to Susan. She is very knowledgeable and I like how she listens and approaches issues from all angles. She doesn't just agree with me that I'm right or tell me that I'm wrong. She's great!
Direct and effective advice
Susan was fantastic. She helped me see the forest through the trees with my anxiety. She taught me how to think and how to focus on what mattered. She was incredibly helpful! I loved how Susan doesn’t sugar coat things or give the answer she thinks i want to hear. She gave me the truth and helped me figure out what i truly needed. I love how she was supportive but wasn’t afraid to say wait thats not a good way of thinking or that negative thought isnt true. She was a blessing for me.
After working with Susan for 6 months, I can confidently say that I have more effective skills to manage my anxiety that I’ve had after years of therapy with other counselors. I have been through some intense things in the last few months (on top of a lifetime of other issues) and Susan has been honest, open, warm, and most importantly wise, in guiding me. I highly recommend her to anyone dealing with anxiety, ADHD, or trauma.
Susan is the type of person that would pick you up if you called her drunk on a Friday night at 2am. She is understanding and willing to work with your personality to aid you in your journey to self awareness.
She has been very professional and accomidating to my time and needs.
Wonderful
Susan is fantastic. She listens extremely well, provides good feed back and ideas, and overall is an amazing person. I appreciate her and her help so much.
I love Susan! This was my first ever experience with therapy and I am so grateful I was matched with her. She helped me navigate some hard decisions and relationships I faced with family and money as a college student. As a Christian, I also appreciated her wisdom and perspective. Will definitely choose her for future counseling.
She is very timely with her responses and I deeply appreciate that the feedback she provides is very honest instead of “what I want to hear”. I’ve had therapists in the past that seemed to coddle me more than make an effort to help me do the work to help myself, and I didn’t see any benefit to that. Susan Boklaga has a more genuine approach that is significantly more to my liking and felt more authentic and therapeutic than what I’ve experienced in the past. I would definitely recommend her and this service. I’m not as good at articulating myself face to face as I am when I can text, so it’s such a help to me that therapy in this format exists now.
Susan is fabulous! She's patient , kind, and understanding ..but most of all she's a great listener. She challenges you in a way that's healthy. What I like best about Susan, is that she equips you with the tools you need to move past your current challenge. She's truly interested in helping you become more well rounded and healthy.
Susan helped me through a difficult time in my life. Though she is a professional, she uses her skills as a therapist and brings them to a personal level by actually engaging in conversation with you. Rather than a client speaking to a professional, speaking with Susan was like speaking with a friend; a friend who listens and gives her honest opinion and feedback towards everything you say. You can’t go wrong with her. Thanks for everything Susan.
Susan has been a wonderful help to me while navigating anxiety and depression. Being a working mom who navigated Covid issues, distance learning, 3 kids at home, and a very busy family life I found myself at an “empty cup” point. Susan really helped me with my anxiety issues. She was wonderful!
Susan has helped me learn strategies to deal with my anxiety and relationships with people in my life both those I like and those I don’t. She also helped me with parenting my strong-willed child.
Susan has been a great help in my recovery. Helping me with self realization and identifying what my triggers are and why. I have experienced a lot personal growth in the short time I've been seeing her. Her knowledge is extensive and up to date. My favorite thing about her is that she calls me out on my bs AND she's kind while doing it. The only way it could be better is if I could see her in person!
So grateful that I got matched with Susan! She helped me in ways that I didn’t know I needed help in. She is incredibly kind and very easy to talk to. She always got back to me as soon as she could. Sessions never felt rushed. Felt like she genuinely cared. I will come back to her in the future should I need the help again! Thank you Susan!
I'm satisfied that Susan and I have made a connection, and have been able to get to the heart of some of my issues. I know I'll get out of this, what I'm willing to put into it, that's for sure.
Susan was super helpful in just letting me vent and was very responsive to my posts and questions. With her help, I was able to see that I do have control over the way I view things and that has helped my anxiety immensely.
Susan was a great listener. She allowed me to vent. She gave me tools use when dealing with my anxiety. The questions she asked me helped me to reflect on what my emotions are connected to. She was kind and sensitive to how I was feeling.
Susan feels like a loving friend I haven’t seen in awhile. I feel seen, heard and understood when I meet with her. Unlike other counselors/therapist she sees you as a whole and not for what you’re going through. I’m so grateful that I was matched to her.
She is kind and shows care when giving me new perspectives to consider. I appreciate how she connects with my past experiences to make me feel seen and understood. She is able to bring things to my understanding the way others cannot. Gentle and direct.
Susan is wonderful! She really listens to me and offers great advice!
This is my first time seeing a therapist and I already feel like I’ve hit the jackpot with Susan after two sessions!
Susan has been kind, patient and understanding. I love her input into my daily life. Should have done this years ago!
Had my first actual session with Susan a few days ago. She worked hard getting me scheduled in, and before the session she responded quickly to my messages. I feel like a weight has been lifted after getting some insight on what is going on with me. Thus is the best I have felt mentally in months. Looking forward to the future and the new me.
I feel very comfortable talking to Susan and respect her responses.