Alana Harris

About Alana Harris

Alana believes people need someone who can really witness what they are going through. Her style is warm, reflective, and person-centered. She is not there to hand clients the answer. She would rather help them slow down, notice what keeps showing up, and get to the “aha” moment in their own way.

Alana earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and later completed her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at VCU. Before graduate school, she worked in an inpatient psychiatric setting with adolescents, an experience that gave her direct exposure to the complexity of mental health concerns before she entered the counseling profession.

Alana enjoys working across age groups and is especially drawn to grief and loss, including grief work with older adults. She also works with anxiety, depression, identity, life transitions, and adults who feel pulled in too many directions at once. Family, relationships, culture, and the larger systems around a person are often part of the story too.

Alana does not expect one approach to fit everyone. Depending on the client, she may pull from person-centered, strengths-based, systems, narrative, self-compassion, or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy work. She sees therapy as gradual. Trust comes first, and from there clients can look more honestly at what hurts, what they already have going for them, and what they want to change.