Joniqua Dorsey

When you have been carrying anxiety, depression, or the effects of trauma for a long time, it can become difficult to remember what it feels like to simply feel safe and at ease. You may find yourself constantly on alert, overwhelmed by emotions, disconnected from the people around you, or struggling with memories and reactions that seem to take over when you least expect them. I work with adults and seniors experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and PTSD. These experiences can also overlap with stress, grief and loss, or women’s issues, especially when painful experiences or major changes have affected how you see yourself, your relationships, or your future. Therapy can give you a place to put down some of what you have been carrying and understand your experiences without judgment. Together, we can work toward helping you feel safer, more grounded, and more confident in your ability to move forward.

Our work will make room for both what you are experiencing today and the experiences, emotions, and memories that have shaped how you respond to the world around you. We’ll explore how anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, and stress may be affecting your emotional wellbeing, relationships, and sense of safety. I may use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you recognize patterns in thoughts and behaviors that contribute to distress and develop healthier ways of responding, Solution Focused Brief Therapy to identify strengths and practical steps that can help you move toward the changes you want, and Trauma Focused CBT to help you process difficult experiences while strengthening skills for managing the emotions and reactions connected to them. Our sessions will be compassionate, collaborative, and paced with your comfort in mind. You will have space to understand what you have been through while also developing tools that can help you feel more present, capable, and connected in everyday life.

You do not need to have the right words for everything you have experienced before coming to therapy. During our first few sessions, we will spend time understanding what has brought you here, what has been weighing on you, and what you would most like to feel different. Together, we will create goals that feel meaningful and realistic while deciding where it feels safest and most helpful to begin. You can expect me to listen with warmth, compassion, and respect, while creating a space where you can share difficult experiences without feeling pressured or judged. Progress may look like feeling less controlled by anxiety, reconnecting with yourself when depression feels heavy, processing traumatic experiences at a manageable pace, feeling safer in your day to day life, or developing healthier ways to respond when difficult emotions arise. We will continue checking in on your goals and adjust our work based on what you need. When you are ready, you can schedule your first session with me through Headway.