Willetta Wilson

Welcome! I am delighted that you have chosen to work with me and excited to begin our journey together. No matter what the response has been from your immediate friends, families, or inner critic, I believe you are making a good decision. Therapy is an inviting place where every single part of you is welcome, even the parts that are uncomfortable to share. As a therapist, I am honored that you chose this process as your vehicle to healing. Counseling is a collaborative process undertaken between you and a therapist, designed to empower you to accomplish mental health and wellness goals. I provide services to individuals and couples. For counseling to be most effective, it is important that you take an active role in the process. The trusting and authentic therapeutic relationship formed between us can be transformative. Often it can be healing simply to be truly heard and understood. I can offer new perspectives and provide insight moving you towards your personal goals. Other benefits of therapy may include increasing mindfulness and self-awareness, overcoming specific problem areas such as depression or anxiety, discerning who you really want to be and how you want to live your life, and finding a resolution to the concerns that led you into therapy. These benefits are best achieved when you assume an active role in the process and apply what is learned in therapy to real-life situations. If this is your first time in therapy, welcome. My guess is that getting started can be pretty scary — to talk to someone you do not know about things that make you uncomfortable, sad, angry, overjoyed, or embarrassed — but I would like to reassure you that this process is here to help you grow. There are certain elements necessary in therapy in order to maintain a space of positivity, growth, and healing. Yet, you are not responsible for maintaining those elements. That is the job of the therapist — my job. It is imperative that I maintain a judgment-free space, a space that is challenging but comforting, and a process that is enlightening as well as retrospective. For those who have been to therapy before and are starting again, welcome back. Whether you’re trying a new therapist after a not-so-good counseling experience, or whether you’re returning because previous experiences have helped you foster a sense of trust in therapy and its benefits, you are welcome here. I am glad that you have returned to therapy to continue your personal growth. I hope that your time in therapy will be as positive as previous therapeutic journeys, or that it will allow new growth that was stifled by a prior unhelpful experience. Therapy will be difficult sometimes and at others the most enjoyable part of your week. As a therapist, I welcome these opposing states and embrace them as a sign of good work being done on your behalf. I ask that you bring your authentic and whole self to each session. I encourage you to allow yourself to experience any emotion or thought freely, for example crying without needing to apologize and voicing your feelings with confidence. It is my genuine hope that every client that comes journeys along their therapeutic path with a renewed sense of understanding and self-appreciation. I am a licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, a master addiction counselor, and a board-certified telehealth therapist. I also maintain specialty certifications for national certification bodies as a certified relationship counselor, certification as a domestic violence counselor, certified sexual disorder diagnostician. I am currently licensed in Virginia, Michigan, and the District of Columbia. My philosophy is that I believe in a relational, strengths-based approach to therapy. My experience has been in working with anxiety, depression, grief and loss, addiction, relationship concerns, work-life balance, trauma, military members, and other life experiences. I believe that each person has their own story that has shaped what they are currently experiencing. Through my work, I strive to foster a safe space where clients can tell their stories, gain insight into how that has impacted them, and create a new reality that is more fulfilling. I continuously utilize various evidence-based and evidence-informed therapeutic approaches including cognitive-behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and narrative therapy.