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Julia Weimer, BA, MS

By on September 19, 2023 in ADHD, Counseling for Individuals and Couples, family therapy, Groups, Marriage and Family Therapy, Play Therapy, Practitioner Services

Julia Weimer is a Pre-Licensed Professional Counselor and play therapist.

She provides services to children between three and twelve years old. She specializes in working with children who have experienced trauma and those with ADHD or behavioral issues. She connects with her clients through expressive therapies and play therapy.

Experience

Julia began working in the mental health field in an inpatient facility for children who have experienced trauma, abuse, suicide attempts and behavioral issues. Julia furthered her experience by working at a partial hospitalization program for children needing emotional support beyond what their schools could provide. In addition to her outpatient counseling work at The Resiliency Center, she works as a school based therapist for children in kindergarten through second grade. In each of these settings, Julia has strengthened her skills in crisis intervention and supported children and families as they navigated complex school and healthcare environments.

Her work across all settings centers the concerns of children and their families, while empowering them to have a voice in the systems of which they are a part.

Specialties

Julia provides individual therapy and group therapy that including topics of emotion regulation, distress tolerance, communication skills, emotion identification, mindfulness, social skills, and healing trauma.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT/CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people learn the impact of their thoughts on their mood and behavior and provides tools for changing one’s thoughts and making incremental (and therefore manageable) steps towards positive change.

Trauma-Focused CBT supports children impacted by trauma to look at their trauma — and thoughts and behaviors since their trauma — through new eyes. Children learn to connect the impact of their thoughts, develop an understanding of the ways their thinking controls their behavior, and allow the space for them to learn new ways to change and welcome new self-efficacy and happiness.

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotional-Focused Therapy supports children in increasing their awareness of their emotions and building acceptance of these feelings. Children often have big feelings but don’t know how to name or express them — or what to do when emotions take over. Through EFT, children learn skills to translate emotions into helpful information, so they can ask for support and support themselves in meaningful ways. EFT also supports children in developing their identity.

Play Therapy

Play is the natural language of children. Julia believes — and play therapy research has demonstrated — that the most effective way to connect with children is to enter their world of imagination. Play therapy offers a safe space for children to express their innate creativity. As children are seen and their stories (and feelings) honored through play therapy, they begin to see new possibilities, experience healing, and are empowered to change their behavior in a positive way. Play Therapy helps children learn to communicate better, develop problem-solving skills, build social-emotional skills, and express difficult thoughts and emotions.

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Lindsay Roznowski, MA, LPC

By on August 7, 2022 in ADHD, BodyMind Integration, Clinical Supervision, Counseling for Individuals and Couples, Groups, Individual and Couples Counseling, Lindsay Roznowski, Marriage and Family Therapy, mindfulness

Lindsay Roznowski, LPCLindsay Roznowski is a Licensed Professional Counselor providing individual and family therapy to children, adolescents, and adults.

She specializes in trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy and other trauma-focused treatments; therapeutic work with children and adolescents; family therapy; and yoga and mindfulness. Lindsay uses a client-centered, strengths-based, holistic approach that takes into account how things like family history, significant life experiences, and relationships contribute to who we are today.

She believes that building a positive, authentic connection between therapist and client is essential for the trust it takes to do life-changing therapeutic work together. Because of this, Lindsay works hard from the very first session to get to know each client, meet them where they are, and explore the full context of any issues or presenting problems. She believes that therapy should always be a collaborative process and views the treatment plan between client and therapist as a living document, informed and updated each session through the dynamic interplay of the therapeutic relationship.

Family Therapy

Lindsay began her career as a Family Based Therapist providing therapy for families based on her training in Structural Family Systems Therapy. She truly enjoys working to understand the full context of the family system, relational dynamics, and how best to support each family member in reaching their personal and family goals. Sessions may include a combination of full family sessions, parent/caregiver sessions, and individual sessions based on needs.

Therapeutic Work with Children and Adolescents

Lindsay spent eight years of her career working as a therapist at a high school; working with adolescents is one of her passions. She specializes in client-centered, creative therapy with children and adolescents. Lindsay loves getting to know each child/adolescent’s strengths and interests and developing creative therapeutic interventions based on that knowledge. Lindsay focuses on the client’s developmental stage, family history, strengths and interests, and her collaboration with caregivers supports her in tailoring the therapeutic experience to provide the best support possible.

Trauma-Focused Care

Lindsay works with individuals to process traumatic events in their lives and heal from that trauma. She uses her training to assess how a client’s trauma is affecting their current patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Lindsay is trained in a number of trauma-focused modalities including the Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TFCBT), and Trauma Art Narrative Therapy.

Yoga and Mindfulness

Out of a need to provide more holistic offerings to her clients and because of her personal passion for yoga and mindfulness, Lindsay completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2014. She used the knowledge she gained through this experience to better support her clients in learning about the mind-body connection and how yoga and mindfulness-based skills can calm the nervous system and support meaningful healing.

Therapeutic Groups and Workshops

Lindsay offers therapeutic groups and workshops in several areas, including experiential support groups for adolescents and programs on yoga and mindfulness for wellbeing.

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Vanessa Mortillo, MA, LPC

By on November 4, 2021 in Counseling for Individuals and Couples, family therapy, Groups, Marriage and Family Therapy, Play Therapy, Self Care Program

Vanessa Mortillo, LPC

Vanessa Mortillo is Licensed Professional Counselor that provides individual counseling and group therapy to youth and young adults.

Vanessa believes that therapy should be as fun, collaborative, and easily accessible as possible. Utilizing mindfulness, talk therapy, expressive arts, and play therapy modalities, she harnesses creativity and imagination in the service of growth and healing. She has worked with families and individuals from a variety of backgrounds and is committed to advancing equity and social justice in the therapeutic relationship and beyond. Vanessa has a Master’s Degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University.

Specialties

Play Therapy and Expressive Arts

Vanessa will meet with your child, on their level, by utilizing their natural language: play. Through play-based and art-based interventions, she supports children working with anxiety/depression, divorce/separation issues, trauma, and a range of issues, to process, heal, and gain new skills.

Learn more about creative and integrative therapies.

Autism

Vanessa is experienced in supporting individuals on the Autism Spectrum at all ages including preschool-aged youth to help them build skills necessary for thriving. For youth, she utilizes a Floortime-influenced play-based approach using your child’s natural interests to build connections, gain social skills, and reach developmental milestones.

Mindfulness Psychotherapy and Teen Mindfulness Groups

With extensive training in mindfulness-based contemplative psychotherapy through Naropa University, Vanessa utilizes mindfulness with adults and adolescents to help them become aware of the present moment, including their feelings, thoughts, and reactions. Mindfulness has been shown to promote feelings of calm and well-being as well as greater connection and insight into oneself. Vanessa facilitates Teen Mindfulness Groups to help build coping skills.

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Elizabeth Venart, MEd, NCC, LPC
Founder and Director of the Resiliency Center

By on November 3, 2015 in Clinical Supervision, Counseling for Individuals and Couples, EMDR, Groups, Marriage and Family Therapy, Self Care Program

Elizabeth Venart is the Director of The Resiliency Center and a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Pennsylvania.

She is also a National Certified Counselor through the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Elizabeth has 25 years of experience in providing counseling, clinical supervision, and training services. For nearly ten years, she worked in non-profit crime victim centers providing individual and group counseling—as well as crisis intervention and critical incident stress management services—to women, children, and men impacted by traumatic grief and crimes of violence. Elizabeth also worked as a school counselor for seven years—at an independent school for boys and with an alternative school for children with emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges.

Elizabeth Venart’s counseling office

Individual, Couples, and Group Counseling

Elizabeth’s counseling specialties include trauma and anxiety, job burn-out and career transition, and working with people who are highly sensitive, empathic, creative, and intuitive. She also supports couples to identify current patterns and create changes that allow for greater compassion and intimacy.

A Person-Centered Approach

The foundation of Elizabeth’s work with individuals, couples, and groups is relational. Before any other work can occur in counseling, an atmosphere of respect and safety must be developed within the relationship.

Trusting in the power of individuals to find their own solutions to life’s difficulties, she uses a person-centered therapy approach in her work with clients—working as a facilitator and coach to help people discover and access their inner resources. Bringing a trauma-informed perspective to her work, Elizabeth recognizes that unresolved grief and hurt are often at the root of individuals feeling stressed, “stuck,” or unhappy.

Strategies and Solutions for Healing

Elizabeth recognizes that people come to therapy looking for information and resources to help them, especially when struggling to create new patterns in their relationships or working to overcome experiences of grief and trauma.

Cognitive Therapy

She uses principles from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to help clients learn to identify how their thoughts can contribute to or help lessen their experiences of pain—and to learn various methods for slowing down their mind so that they can more fully experience the present moment.

EMDR

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a comprehensive, trauma-informed therapy that integrates mindfulness, cognitive therapy, and insights from neuroscience to get to the root of the symptoms, triggers, and obstacles that bring people to therapy.

Elizabeth is a Certified EMDR Therapist and an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. She offers individual and group consultation to therapists seeking to strengthen their EMDR Therapy skills and gain certification. She has undergone several advanced training programs on the use of EMDR with children, severe trauma, and dissociation. She is experienced in using EMDR to facilitate clients’ successful healing from trauma, grief and anxiety.

Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapy approach that recognizes and respects the complexity of each person’s inner world.  Inner conflict between parts (often recognized as having competing beliefs and desires) is often at the root of anxiety, depression, indecisiveness, and dissatisfaction. By listening deeply to all parts of self, we can have greater ease in our lives, greater compassion for ourselves, and less distress and reactivity.

One example of an inner conflict that might arise among parts could be as follows: (1) Part of you looks outside on a sunny day and really wants to go on hike, (2) Part of you is determined to clean the house because company is coming tomorrow, (3) Part of you feels pulled to visit a sick friend, and (4) Part of you feels overwhelmed by the choices and just wants to stay in bed. When we begin to understand our inner conflicts through the lens of IFS and parts, we develop an ability to see our struggles more clearly and with greater compassion. In couples therapy, this lens leads to deeper understanding about habitual reactions and patterns and, ultimately, greater intimacy and connection.

Highly Sensitive Persons

Elizabeth provides a safe, emotionally attuned healing environment in which Highly Sensitive persons (HSPs) can heal emotional wounds and move towards greater self-understanding and acceptance. Our work focuses on helping HSPs validate and appreciate their strengths and learn effective coping strategies for living in a world where the majority of people are not highly sensitive.

Group Counseling

In her groups, Elizabeth provides opportunities for individuals to connect with others, tap into their strengths, participate in activities and discussions designed to promote greater self-awareness, and receive support in creating positive changes in their lives.

Laughter Yoga

Elizabeth Venart became Certified as a Laughter Yoga Instructor in 2011. Laughter yoga is a fun and uplifting form of exercise that combines playful laughter exercises with deep yoga breathing. The proven health benefits of laughter include reducing stress, improving mood, increasing cardiovascular health, lowering blood pressure, and generally helping people feel more relaxed and comfortable in their bodies and in the world. Elizabeth leads laughter yoga classes at The Resiliency Center, works individually with people teaching them laughter yoga, and integrates laughter yoga into her professional trainings and Resiliency Retreats.

Clinical Supervision and Training Programs for Health Care Professionals

Elizabeth provides clinical supervision and training programs to individuals, groups, and organizations and is available to provide LPC supervision to counselors seeking licensure. She has over ten years of experience supervising counselors across a variety of settings.

Clinical Supervision

Her approach to LPC and clinical supervision is rooted in a humanistic, relational framework. She supports counselors in deepening their understanding of clients’ challenges and goals, identifying any obstacles to empathy and mindfulness, and providing concrete strategies to promote change. She helps counselors cultivate a trauma-informed perspective and invites them to listen for stories of resiliency.  Elizabeth also provides career guidance to counselors as well as vicarious trauma consultations to both individuals and organizations.

Training Programs for Professional Helpers

Elizabeth has been providing training programs to professional helpers since 1996. She has presented at the local, regional, and national levels, and her strength lies in making the material come to life for participants through reflective exercises, dialogue, and opportunities for creative expression and the development of personal insights.Her training specialties include trauma, vicarious trauma, counselor wellness, team-building in organizations, and creativity development.

From 2003 through 2007, Elizabeth served on the American Counseling Association’s Task Force on Impaired Counselors. Part of her work on the task force included the development of effective intervention programs to facilitate counselor wellness and serving as a co-editor for a special journal issue on counselor wellness through the Journal of the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development.

Elizabeth was an adjunct instructor with the Behavioral Health Counseling Sciences Program of Drexel University from 2003 -2008. She taught Group Counseling I and II, Theory and Practice of Counseling, Assessment and Treatment Planning, and Cognitive Therapy II.

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