Gina Barra, MA, LPC
Welcome to Lakeside Counseling. Life experiences are always changing. I am here to guide you and encourage you along your journey. My goal is to assist people develop skills for life change. Through a caring, warm, non-judgmental environment, I can help you explore your thoughts and feelings and problem solve to develop new skills and insight to your current or past situation. I have over 20 years experience helping people with various issues. I am skilled in assessment, counseling techniques and treatment planning. I do not give advice, but instead support my clients to make their own sound choices. My current focus is individual therapy working with people ages sixteen to seniors. My work with individuals includes working together to develop goals based on what the client would like to achieve in therapy. I also conduct family therapy for children and families. My focus is to support the entire family, and to provide an alternate way of approaching a challenging situation. My main goal is to reduce confusion and frustration and increase the family’s ability to cope with their current difficulties. My experiences include helping people with anxiety, depression, Bipolar Disorder, self- esteem, life- transitions, drug and alcohol abuse, stress, transgender, women’s issues, anger management, codependency, chronic illness, domestic violence and family conflict and grief. I use an eclectic approach to therapy depending on the needs of the client. Cognitive behavioral, solution focused brief therapy and family systems are a few of the approaches I use. I listen attentively to my clients and offer them my time, empathy and respect. “I may not be where I want to be but thankfully, I am not where I use to be” (Joyce Meyers).