Therapy in Culpeper

Brittany understands that wanting change and feeling ready for it are not always the same thing. Her goal is to create a nonjudgmental space where clients can begin exactly where they are, feel supported through the uncertainty, and recognize that they are capable of moving forward.

Brittany earned her Bachelor of Social Work with a minor in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed Liberty University’s accelerated Master of Social Work program, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Her graduate training at Chrysalis Counseling Centers included therapeutic day treatment with middle school students, where she helped adolescents build coping skills and navigate challenges throughout the school day.

Her interest in helping others began long before her clinical training. Even as a child, Brittany was drawn to people who felt left out or needed someone in their corner. That instinct eventually led her from the medical field toward mental health care and continues to shape the warmth, fairness, and protectiveness she brings to her work.

Brittany’s approach is person-centered and strength-based. She believes each person’s journey is different, so therapy should be shaped around the individual rather than a fixed formula. When useful, she incorporates CBT-informed strategies to help clients notice unhelpful thought patterns, reframe how they see themselves, and build on strengths they may be overlooking.

Brittany brings experience supporting people through trauma, grief, parenting challenges, and major life transitions. As a mother, she also understands how much resilience can be required to care for a family while pursuing change of your own. She believes difficult seasons are real, but they are not permanent.

Clients can expect Brittany to meet them where they are without judgment. She wants therapy to feel like a place where people can be honest about what is hard, feel more secure taking the next step, and know they do not have to make that change alone.

Carly knew she wanted to become a counselor from a young age. In her early teens, she experienced firsthand how meaningful it can be to have a space where you can speak openly, feel heard, and be accepted without judgment. That experience shaped the kind of therapist she strives to be today.

Carly believes therapy should feel safe, honest, collaborative, and practical. Her goal is not simply to help clients talk about what is difficult, but to help them understand themselves, recognize patterns, and develop tools they can carry into their everyday lives.

Carly holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Longwood University and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University. She has experience working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families, with a particular focus on trauma-informed care.

Carly takes a person-centered and collaborative approach while incorporating structure and evidence-based interventions when appropriate. She believes clients deserve to understand why they are doing the work in therapy, not simply be given an exercise or coping skill without context. Carly uses an integrative approach, drawing from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), play therapy techniques, attachment-based interventions, and other evidence-based methods to tailor treatment to each client’s unique needs and goals.

Early in the therapeutic process, Carly may use tools such as attachment-focused interviews and genograms to help clients explore the experiences and relationships that have affected them. Genograms provide a visual way to identify patterns that may span generations, including relationship dynamics, mental health concerns, trauma, and substance use. With younger clients, Carly adapts this process into developmentally appropriate activities that make these concepts easier to understand and explore.

Carly particularly enjoys working with people navigating trauma and trauma recovery; children and adolescents exploring emotions, identity, and relationships; families experiencing complicated or stressful dynamics; women navigating the challenges and transitions of midlife; older adults experiencing loneliness, grief, loss, or significant life changes; and individuals working to better understand themselves and their relationships.

Clients often experience Carly as warm, open, authentic, and approachable. She believes meaningful therapy requires both empathy and honesty. As trust develops, she is comfortable gently challenging clients when doing so can help them move forward. Carly views herself as a partner in the therapeutic process. She does not believe there is a one-size-fits-all approach to healing, and she works alongside each client to understand what is happening beneath the surface and determine what will be most helpful.

For Carly, therapy is a process that unfolds over time. First, there is space to breathe: an opportunity to slow down, speak openly, and feel genuinely heard without judgment. Then comes understanding, as Carly and her clients explore the emotions, experiences, relationships, triggers, and patterns that may be influencing how they think, feel, and respond. Finally comes change, when clients begin putting that insight into practice by developing healthier coping strategies, strengthening boundaries, improving communication, and making intentional changes in their everyday lives.

Carly believes therapy is not about becoming a completely different person. It is about gaining a better understanding of yourself, healing what needs attention, and building the skills and confidence to move forward in a way that feels authentic to you.

Hanna is a Licensed Professional Counselor providing a wealth of experience working with diverse clients; including children, teens, adults, and families. Her educational background includes a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Longwood University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Mary Baldwin University. Her early professional experience included work with domestic violence organizations, supporting survivors of domestic violence which remains an important area of interest in her clinical work.

Hanna’s deep passion lies in empowering her clients to set and accomplish their goals, and she is committed to providing a supportive and empathetic environment for their growth and well-being. She employs a diverse set of counseling approaches that are customized to address the individual and distinct needs of each client.

Hanna is grateful for the clients who entrust her with their stories and seek therapy to aid in their lives. Hanna appreciates the opportunity to be part of a chapter in the lives of the people she treats. This is key to her mindset in aiding the clients who come to her for counseling. Hanna utilizes several clinical strategies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) or Attachment Based Therapy; among others.

Hanna often finds it helpful to provide perspective and balance between the cognitive processes and the emotional feelings of her clients. Some people live almost entirely in their heads and lose track of what their emotions or bodies are telling them. Others feel so flooded by emotions that it is hard to step back and think. Hanna helps clients get those parts of themselves talking to each other again. Hanna has found it is often useful for her clients to become more grounded if one of these areas is dominating the other.

Hanna especially enjoys working with adults, trauma survivors, and people in major life transitions, including new and expecting parents. Clients may come in frozen by anxiety, weighed down by depression, stuck after a big change, or ready to look at something from the past that is still showing up in the present.

Hanna pays attention to small wins. Therapy is not only a long term outcome or major breakthroughs; it is often about incremental successes building a foundation of victories. Speaking up in a relationship, doing something independently for the first time, or reacting differently to an old trigger all count. Clients have described Hanna as deeply empathetic and as someone who understands them.

Julia is direct, analytical, and comfortable asking the next question. She also cares a lot about consistency and trust. Julia believes people often have more influence over the direction of their lives than they realize, and she especially enjoys working with clients who are ready to look at themselves honestly and do something with what they learn.

Julia earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from George Mason University and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University. Before entering outpatient practice, she worked with children with autism using ABA-based services and completed her clinical internship in a substance-use treatment setting. That experience reinforced for her how important consistency and clinician stability can be for clients who have difficulty trusting others.

Julia especially enjoys working with emerging adults and adults dealing with anxiety, trauma, relationships, boundaries, life direction, and expectations that no longer fit the life they want. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), cognitive restructuring, and attachment-informed trauma work to slow down automatic conclusions and ask where a reaction is coming from and whether it is still helping.

Julia is comfortable pointing out a contradiction when she sees one. If a client says something matters deeply but their choices keep taking them in the opposite direction, she may stop there and ask about it. She is not trying to tell people what to do. She wants them to separate what they can control from what they cannot, then make a clearer decision about what to do with the part that is theirs.

Clients have described Julia as “real,” reliable, stable, safe, and something of an old soul. She likes that combination. Therapy can be steady and validating without becoming vague, and supportive without avoiding the hard question.

Melanie believes that everyone deserves to know what it feels like to be truly acknowledged, loved and accepted, for who they really are. This belief appears in her approach which begins with acknowledgement and creating a warm, nonjudgmental space where clients can feel fully seen. She describes therapy as a “soft place to land,” a place where clients can lower their guard, build trust, and work on what matters most to them without feeling that they have to fit into a particular mold.

Melanie’s path to counseling had a few chapters. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Sociology from Wake Forest University, a master’s degree in Sports Management from the University of Tennessee, worked in sports marketing, spent more than a decade in education, and eventually returned to Wake Forest for graduate training in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. That winding path is part of what makes her comfortable with people who are rethinking who they are or what comes next.

Melanie especially enjoys working with women in midlife, when relationships, family roles, identity, empty-nesting, or other changes can leave someone asking, “Who am I now?” She also enjoys working with children who need a safe place where the attention is really on them and where they can express things that may be hard to say anywhere else.

Melanie does not rush to techniques. She starts with the relationship. Once there is trust, she can bring in practical tools, psychoeducation, and other approaches that fit the person. She wants therapy to give clients room to be fully themselves while still helping them make choices that move something forward.

Melanie wants clients to know that growth is not a straight line. Some weeks feel like a breakthrough. Other weeks do not. Progress can include setbacks, uncertainty, and realizing something you did not see before. What matters is continuing to show up and building from one choice to the next.

Yenci has always wanted her work to matter to the people around her. In therapy, she is warm and friendly, but also gently direct when a client needs accountability, clarity, or a little encouragement to keep moving.

Yenci enjoys working with children, teens, and young adults navigating anxiety, life transitions, relationships, and other periods when life seems to be changing all at once. She wants clients to understand what is happening and leave with skills they can actually use outside the therapy room.

Yenci uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and attachment theory. She helps clients look at the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behavior, while also asking how earlier relationships may still be shaping the way they connect with people now. Yenci helps clients make sense of their experiences and patterns while discovering new ways to move forward with greater self-compassion and confidence.

Yenci is a first-generation Salvadorian American and grew up bilingual in English and Spanish. She provides counseling in both English and Spanish and welcomes clients from diverse backgrounds and life experiences. She understands that culture, family expectations, identity, relationships, and the communities we move between can all shape how we experience life. She creates a space where clients feel understood, supported, and empowered to explore what matters most to them.

Yenci earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Longwood University.

Yenci knows starting therapy can feel awkward or intimidating. She does not expect someone to walk in already knowing what to say. Her job is to make the relationship approachable and keep the work focused on what the client came in hoping to change.