Therapists in Opelika, AL

Thank you for visiting my profile! I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional. I am licensed in Alabama and North Carolina and approved as an out-of-state tele mental health provider for Florida. I specialize in treating PTSD/complex trauma, anxiety/depression, life transitions/stress management, grief/loss, ADHD, and women's issues. I have a combined total of over 30 years experience in mental health across public, private, virtual, and educational settings.My therapeutic style is relaxed, conversational, collaborative, and reflective. I actively engage with clients, partnering with them throughout their healing journey. My empathetic and intuitive approach integrates postmodern techniques with systemic, holistic, neuroscientific, and traditional methods to support your emotional and relational healing and balance. Additional Information: I generally respond once a day to messages, usually in the mornings, CST. While I may respond over the weekend, this is not always guaranteed. As a licensed therapist, I am required by law to obtain your full name, date of birth, contact information, consent for counseling, and a photo ID. Anonymous clients cannot be accommodated. Consent is given by reviewing and accepting the member information form before our first appointment. You must send your full name, contact information, date of birth, and photo ID before we meet for our first session. I am happy to answer any questions regarding this process. I recommend uploading a close-view headshot photo to your profile. This helps me distinguish between clients with the same first name and ensures smooth scheduling. If you are experiencing recent, frequent, or intrusive thoughts of self-harm or harming others, this platform may not be suitable. Please seek emergency or crisis assistance or find offline therapy in your local area. For the US: 988 will put you in touch with a support line. If you have any questions or need further information to make an informed decision about your counseling experience and therapeutic goals, please do not hesitate to ask. I look forward to working with you!

Welcome to my web page at BetterHelp. Did you know that over 42% of the United States population has sought some type of mental help services in their lifetime? Another 36% of the United States population have thought about seeking out mental health services to address all ranges of mental health issues. It takes initiative, courage and self-awareness to reach out for help. The hardest part of reaching out for help is finding a therapist that is compassionate, warm, understanding, non-judgmental, and a good listener that fits a client's mental health needs while accommodating home, school, and work balance within the scope of everyday life. Furthermore, it is even more difficult to navigate the process of what to expect in therapy to achieve positive outcomes in mental health wellness. I firmly believe in the philosophy that "if you do not 'jive' with a therapist, do not quit counseling, just find a therapist you do." In my professional experience I have often heard clients state, "My therapist does not listen to me. They just tell me things I already know." This is not the experience that I want to give any of my clients. I believe in the philosophy "treat others like you would want to be treated and walk a mile in their shoes." I believe that everyone is an expert of their own life and that the therapist should empower a client to concentrate on things that they can control within their environment through positivity, thus, avoiding the traps of "should haves, could haves, would haves, must haves" that can cause a person to become paralyze within their own psyche. The counselor/client relationship should be a collaborative one that does not leave the client feeling deflated but empowered with new tools to try to improve overall mental health functioning. I have had many clients come with high expectations that the therapist "will fix them, or give them advice". This is one thing that no therapist can do as this would be taking individual power away from the client further exasperating the symptoms of the mental health diagnosis for which one is seeking help. The therapeutic relationship is one that each party equally contributes to setting client centered goals that are measurable and attainable while bringing about personal awareness of how behaviors affect actions and how actions affect mental health outcomes. In short, all behaviors have positive or negative consequences. My approach to counseling is to help educate clients on behaviors, choices, and consequences through solution-focused, cognitive behavior, aspects of psychodynamic and Gestalt, but mostly client centered therapies. I ascribe to the concept, "Stop, Think, Act" when working with a client. I am Leslie Warren, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with a Person In Practice endorsement by the Alabama State Board of Social Work Examiners. I have over 15 years in social services experience in an agency setting prior to receiving my Masters in Social Work in 2014 and a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2018 from the University of Alabama. I have about 6 years postmasters clinical experience working for both private and public agencies/companies with preschool and school age children, young adults, caregivers, disabled populations, and older adults. I am well versed in helping clients assess community and educational resources. I am experienced in providing case management, individual, and group therapy, I am experiences in treating clients with general anxiety and situational depression. I am most knowledgeable in educating clients on grief and anxiety issues related to death, disability, and infertility. As a person who has suffered from infertility, I am passionate in beginning a new phase of my professional career by helping infertile couples navigate the stresses, anxiety, grief, and unknown expectations of the path to parenthood while giving individuals and couples emotional and educational support to deal with the loses each time a treatment fails. This "emotional roller coaster" causes a vicious cycle of disappointment, worry, depression, family and couple conflicts, and financial strain upon the individual's or couple's relationship. Many times the medical community lacks experience and education to address the needs of couples through the treatment process and fails to educate the client (patient) on all alternatives for treatment that may be available to them such as regular adoption and embryo donation/adoption through IVF. My plight with infertility is the main reason I decided to get a Masters of Social Work so I could help individuals and couples be a advocate for themselves through education, emotional support and understanding that is lacking in training among both the medical and mental health professional fields. Since choosing the right therapist affects the direct outcomes of the client's progress toward mental help awareness and emotional well being, I prefer to have the first sessions to be through video chat as this will promote the atmosphere of a collaborative, trusting, warm, and open therapeutic relationship. I can also accommodate phone and chat forums. If you choose to enter into a therapeutic relationship with me, and you do not see an appointment time that works for you, or is not available on the calendar, reach out and I may be able to accommodate on a case by case basis as long as I have at least a two to three days notice. I generally check messages here a few times per day Tue-Sat and I will respond as quickly as I can. I do appreciate your patience when it takes a bit longer at times, as I may be tending to other clients or professional/personal responsibilities." I wish you the best in this journey and I commend you for taking the initiative, courage and self-awareness to reach out for help. Leslie Warren, LICSW, PIP

Hello! I am a Marriage & Family Therapist licensed in the State of Alabama. I have worked in the social service field for more than 20 years and have worked through a wide range of wide range of concerns. I work with individuals, couples, and families- my specialty is relationships. Intra-personal relationships, personal relationships, or social relationships they are all important. So whether you are on an introspective journey, or an individual navigating life with friends; perhaps you are partners doing life together, having intimate, satisfying and responsive relationships is crucial. I have experience in working with issues of infidelity, parenting, communications, anxiety, transitions spirituality, premarital, and more. For more than 20 years, I have been in the helping business. My therapy style is professional yet warm and interactive. I offer a holistic counseling experience; that combines attachment theory, structural family therapy and emotionally focus therapy principles, helping clients to develop mere useful interactional patterns of behavior in their relationships, overcome their challenges to achieve their personal goals and improve their competence, capacity, and productivity. I look forward to working with you!

I'm an older female counselor. I have a motherly way about me, according to my clients. I have had a very diversified career in science, the military, and in higher education. I'm a veteran, the widowed spouse of a veteran, the mother of a disabled veteran, and the daughter of a WWII veteran who suffered with PTSD. I am a mother, both by birth and adoption, to five children. I have fostered 26 children over 33 yrs. I am a Christian and I am a licensed pastor and provide pastoral services. I have experienced violence and loss and have a deep empathy for those who have experienced these things. I have done a lot of grief work myself and with my clients. I have remarried and have dealt with blended family issues. My life experience has increased both my empathy and my understanding, and has allowed for my spiritual growth. I will challenge your spirituality at some point in our process. If you are not wanting to look at your spiritual beliefs, another therapist would be a better match for you. Humans are often helpless, but never hopeless. I have found that a combination of varied therapeutic methods works for me and my clients. I use a good deal of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy combined with Grief Resolution Therapy, but I do not limit myself to certain methods and I expand to meet my client's needs. The majority of my clients feel they have received help, or have acheived some growth in therapy. My therapeutic goal is not to force a change on my client, but to enable my client to feel at peace with the choices they make each moment they live on this earth. In addition I hope to help my clients embrace the joy of living. Van Martz, LPC

I am licensed in Alabama with 7 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, & motivation, self esteem, and confidence. I also have experience working with depression. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process.

I am licensed in Alabama with 24 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with relationship issues, family conflicts, intimacy related issues, & parenting issues. I believe that you are the expert of your story and that you have many strengths that will assist you in overcoming things that challenge you. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process.

I am licensed in Alabama with 19 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with coping with addictions, relationship issues, coping with grief and loss, & motivation, self esteem, and confidence. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!

I am licensed in Alabama with 40 years of professional , clinical Social Work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, & bipolar disorder. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. Taking the first step to seeking a more fulfilling and happier life takes courage. I am here to support you in that process.

I am licensed in Alabama with 4 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, & motivation, self esteem, and confidence. I also have experience working with depression. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!

I am licensed in Alabama with 3 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress, anxiety, ADHD, family conflicts, coping with grief, coping with loss, parenting issues, motivation, & self esteem. I have experience working directly with parents adopting children through foster care, and working with youth with history of childhood trauma. I work from a strengths based perspective, and believe that you are the expert of your story. I believe that building a relationship between the client and therapist is an important aspect of the therapeutic process. Finding a therapist that you connect with is so vital, and I am proud that you are taking this step!