As therapists, we are encouraged to be all about you and not tell you much about us. And that’s the way it should be-all about you! But yet it’s also a relationship in which you may wonder “Who is this person and why should I trust them to help me?”

My name is Diane. I’m a daughter, a sister, a wife, a widow, a wife again, a mom and a step-mom. I am a business owner and I was a business partner. I grew up on a farm right here in Tioga County only to leave at 18 for 17 years. I worked full time and attended school full time. I was an anxious child but became a daredevil adult. 

I think one of the most important things to learn in life is determining when your personal qualities suit you well and when they can be a weakness. Often we get bogged down in the day to day and it can be difficult to feel heard, explore patterns that hold us back and find solutions to roadblocks. I would love to help you develop the tools to become the best “you” you can be!

I excel at helping those in transition, needing coping skills, support and decision making. I have over 20 years experience in the mental health field.  I have worked at the Department of Social Services, in a hospital emergency room and on inpatient psychiatric units. I have also worked as a therapist in outpatient mental health and in elementary and middle schools.  I also taught psychology courses at the college level.

At this time, I primarily work with women and those who are grieving. I specialize in grief work and I am a Certified Grief Counselor. Past adult clients have faced a wide variety of problems that include everything from crisis situations, depression, anxiety, divorce, traumatic events, loss, and physical illness. Child and teen clients have struggled with issues such as ADHD, behavioral problems, anger management, anxiety, divorce of parents, removal from the home, adoption, loss of family members, bullying, domestic violence, aggression, etc. I have completed over 200 hours of continuing education in work with children’s concerns and earned a Master’s in Education but at this time I primarily work with adults. 

EDUCATION
Master’s in Education
Master’s in Social Work
Bachelor’s in Human Development
Associate’s in Social Science

LICENSES or CERTIFICATES
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Registered Play Therapist
Permanent Certificate as a School Social Worker
Certificate as a School Counselor
CPR Certified
Former EMT

Continuing Education

One thing I truly believe in is continuing education. Historically in NY when you graduate and pass all your licensing and clinical tests, you didn’t need to do anything else to keep it except pay for it every 3 years. That wasn’t good enough for me. I think providers have an obligation to keep abreast of research, development and trends in our field. Apparently NY State agreed and in 2015, they started to require continuing education for some providers to maintain their license. Below, you will find a list of continuing education courses I have taken after earning my degrees.

DIANE’S CLINICAL EDUCATION (WORK WITH CHILDREN/FAMILIES)

• Therapist Training on Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy
• Simple Approaches to Complex Bereavement
• Healing Grief: Finding Comfort After Death, Divorce & Betrayal
• What trauma looks like in an educational or after school setting
• Counseling children & adolescents through Grief & Loss
• Decision Points: Death & Dying in the hospital
• Self Care, The Wounded Healer, Resiliency and Post Traumatic Growth
• Trauma to Vicarious Trauma Transformation
• Per O OCD Subtypes How to Identify and Treat Them
• Why it is hard to let go: Emotional Attachment to our stuff
• Bullying: From causes to clean up: Play therapy can help
• The Opiate Epidemic: Understanding Treatment Options
• Children with Medical Conditions in the Hospital and in the Community: How Play Therapy Helps Deal with Stress and Anxiety
• Transforming the Cycle of Worry into Useable Vigilance for Counseling Clients with Food Allergies
• Addressing Maladaptive Coping Behaviors with Adolescents and their Families
• Animal Assisted Social Work
• Love Before First Sight: Understanding Parent/Child Bonds & Attachment through the lens of neurobiology
• Gottman Training: The Art & Science of Love
• What Works with Teens: Evidence Based Practice for Clinicians
• OMG! Play Therapy Techniques for the Modern Teen
• Play Therapy Rocks-using music with Teens & Children
• Coloring Outside the Lines: Prescriptive Play Therapy for School Settings.
• Executive function: What’s play got to do with it?
• Filling your toolbox: what every play therapist should know
• A practical guide to evidence based treatment in play therapy
• Play therapy: Art or science
• Child Centered Play Therapy at National Institute for Relationship Enhancement
• Filial Family Therapy @ National Institute for Relationship Enhancement
• Play Therapy & Beyond-new techniques
• Evocative Strategies in child & adolescent psychotherapy
• Therapeutic engagement of children & adolescents: play, symbol, drawing & storytelling strategies
• Play in Family Therapy
• Techniques Techniques Techniques: Play based activities for children, adolescents & families
• Basic Skills & concepts for Play Therapy with families & parents child dyads
• Integrating Play therapy with CBT: Practical innovative & directive techniques
• Unleashing the power of canine assisted Play Therapy
• Play Therapy Strategies for the treatment of anger management
• Baby talk: using play to optimize infant development
• Developmental & Experiential Play in the treatment of attachment & trauma
• The sexually acting out child: behaviors, development & interventions
• Strengthening executive function for children with ADHD: a play therapy approach
• Portable play Therapy
• History of Play Therapy
• Effective use of object-relations play therapy with young traumatized children
• Cultural Issues in play therapy
• The Homecoming: Child Play Therapy Sessions Incorporating Families to Optimize Growth
• Hitchhiker’s guide to Planet Earth: Play Therapy for kids who don’t fit in
• Play therapy Theory & Practice: A comparative presentation

SELF CARE AND BUSINESS RELATED CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Self Care, The Wounded Healer, Resiliency & Post Traumatic Growth
• Vicarious Trauma to Vicarious Transformation
• The 3S’s: Supervision, Self Reflection, Self Care
• Helping Clients Make Better Decisions: Socratic Motivational Practice
• Mindful Communication: Practices & Applications for Self-Care & Clinical Practice
• Review of the HIPAA Security Rule
• Transitioning into ICD-10 and DSM-5
• Understanding Malpractice Risk
• Facing the Demons Head On: The Impact of Burnout in the Life of
• Every Social Worker, and the Necessity for Our Self-Care-Self-study
• Play therapist know thyself: work that we must do

To schedule a brief consult with Diane, please email diane@counselingsolutionspllc.com with your name, phone number, health insurance company and how you found our practice.