Holly Barruso, LPC-MHSP
As your therapist and counselor I am well prepared to work with the entire family system. This includes marriage discord and conflict, parenting problems, child and teen behavioral problems and issues with blended families. My experience working with adults of all ages as well as children and teens ages 2 – 18 is extensive. The training I received allows me to work with a wide variety of presenting issues and mental health diagnoses. Additionally, I specialize in using play therapy to work with children and also have considerable experience addressing issues common to adolescents.
I have a license in Tennessee in Professional Counseling, as well as a license in the state of California as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I received a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and have more than 20 years of experience in the mental health field. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health provided me with training in Infant and Toddler Mental Health. My graduate education was rooted in a family systems approach with a later focus on Christian Counseling. In addition to this, I have been trained as a Dare to be Different Marriage Mentor and am a Certified Prepare/Enrich Marriage Facilitator. My employment history includes a variety of settings such as several non-profit agencies, a residential treatment center for children in the foster care system, a private school, and a biblical counseling agency. With this diverse work experience I’m equipped to more easily provide services to a wide range of clientele in my private practice.
As a Christian I utilize my faith in my counseling whenever my clients are agreeable to this approach. I freely share my personal testimony of God’s healing in my marriage, and am passionate about saving marriages. I have also personally found healing from depression and an eating disorder, and often incorporate my testimony when working with others who are struggling with those same issues.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
– 2 Corinthians 12:9