Master of Social Work

I am so glad you’re here! My name is Giavonna, and I am a pre-licensed mental health therapist at New Directions – Meadowlands. I am alumni of the University of Pittsburgh, to which I completed my MSW program and the Youth Behavioral Health Workforce Fellowship. As the name suggests, my passions lie with assisting children, adolescents, and transitional aged youth in obtaining the mental health care that they need. With this population of youth aged 5 to around 24 years of age, my experience lies in providing skills training and individual therapy for clients with anxiety, depression, mood and personality disorders, and trauma.

To assist clients with these concerns, I tend to utilize modalities based in CBT, DBT, and ACT frameworks to help foster various skills, such as in the instillation of mindfulness or in distress tolerance. I am also certified in STAIR, which is a brief therapy that seeks to improve emotional regulation as well as interpersonal functioning for my clients.

Beginning therapy is no small task, in fact, it can be quite scary for some. I am quite aware of this and I will not take your readiness to start this journey for granted. I will approach our session with empathy, with understanding, and with gratitude that you allowed me to join you on this ride.