Clinic Director
Dee Strickland, LPC is a licensed professional counselor and Clinic Director at our Fox Chapel Office. For the last three decades she has been committed to helping children, adolescents, adults, families, couples, veterans, and court-appointed individuals live more meaningful and fulfilling lives in a holistic manner using the Wellness Wheel as a foundation. She is a strengths-based clinician and utilizes well-evidenced approaches. Dee compassionately addresses a range of psychological issues, such as depression, anxiety, complex trauma, neurodiversity, behavioral difficulties, relationship challenges, family systems concerns, grief and loss, substance use, and issues related to the LGBTQIA+ population. Her primary therapeutic approaches are Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She also utilizes ACT, EMDR (in the certification process), IFS, Positive Psychology, and is fully certified in Choice Theory/ Reality Therapy. Dee loves to help individuals find a sense of peace and discover more joy in their lives. She believes, too, that humor really is the best medicine throughout the healing process.
As the Clinic Director of the Fox Chapel office, Dee is responsible for ensuring that the practice continues to provide an exceptional level of care for every client. Prior to joining New Directions, Dee worked in a range of professional settings such as: a community mental health clinic, IBHS, mobile mental health, partial-hospital school program, residential facilities supervisor for children and adults, state-wide foster care director, local emergency department evaluator, county jail trainer, and private practice clinician. Dee’s breadth of experience has led her to work with very diverse populations, lending to her approach when supervising newer clinicians.
Dee earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Mercyhurst College and her Masters in Community Agency Counseling from California University of PA. She is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Behavioral Health-Clinical program through Arizona State University. She grew up in a very small town about an hour south of Erie, PA, and then settled in the City of Pittsburgh. She is a military veteran with 12 years in the Medical Service field, including positions held as a Battalion Personnel Officer and Detachment Commander. When not in the office, Dee loves spending time with her bernedoodle, Mr. Darcy, and her 3 girls. She also enjoys reading and watching k-dramas. Her favorite quote is from Viktor Frankel’s Man’s Search for Meaning: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”