Wendy Thornell (She/her)

As a mother of a teen who self-harmed and a therapist who has helped many teenagers work through the underlying root causes of self-harm this topic is near and dear to my heart. People engage in self harm for different reasons. I support the individual where they are and work to develop alternative coping skills while addressing the triggers.

I am a parent of twins, both with ASD. My son received services beginning at 9 months of age, his twin sister at age 16. I understand the challenges, frustrations, and beautiful world of ASD both as a mother and trained therapist. I work with individuals to understand their diagnosis in addition to providing support and education to the family.

I am a therapist with ADHD myself. I understand the ups and downs of having a neurospicy brain, but also realize it is a superpower when we learn how to harness our executive function and develop skills and routines that support our wonderfulness.

I have walked through intense DBT training as a parent and continued education as a therapist. DBT is one of my favorite modalities. Most of the time I find anxiety is caused by worrying about things that are out of our control. DBT is one of my favorite therapies to work through releasing traumas and anxieties so we can begin to lead a more peaceful life.

Many of my clients experience trauma before they walk into my office. Sometimes decades earlier. Narrative therapy empowers the client to take back what was stolen through trauma and re-write their past with purpose. Narrative Therapy is one of the most empowering modalities for all ages.

I work with many teens who are in my office at the request of their guardians. It was not their idea to come through my doors and many times they don't believe they have a problem. Working with reluctant clients requires the use of Motivational Interviewing so they can achieve what they want out of our time together. At the end of our time together almost all of my teen clients enjoy coming and working on themselves for an hour a week.

This modality has changed my life. I have personal and professional experience and training in DBT. Believing two things can be true at the same time creates a huge power shift in your life. I encourage you to replace the work "but" and with "and" and see what happens in your life!