Diana Stone

Hello there, I am Diana Stone LPC licensed in the state of Virginia. I have a wide variety of approaches to therapy depending on what the issues we are dealing with, the best practice for that particular issue, and often my approach would be considered eclectic, i.e someone dealing with addiction might benefit from cognitive behavioral approaches while also responding to expressive arts, such as visual arts, drawing, painting, music, and journaling. I would use both approaches if that's what is called for.

My approach

The approaches I find most helpful are Rogerian, cognitive-behavioral, Jungian depth work, and spiritual/expressive arts. Not everyone will be interested in all of these approaches which is why there is a freedom to find out what will work.

My focus

I have a long history of working with women who battle addictions, PTSD, and issues related to trauma processing. More recently I have worked with military dependents and was very comfortable with that population as I am a Navy Veteran and come from a long family history of military involvement

My communication style

I used to play relaxing music and do guided imagery quite a lot when I was a therapist in an office. My office had a very relaxing ambiance and often my clients said they came just to relax sometimes. I try to incorporate a calming atmosphere by doing remote counseling as well

My journey to mental healthcare

I am 69 yrs. old and have been a therapist since I was 33 yrs. old. I always felt an affinity for being able to be alongside someone who was suffering or in mental pain. Initially, I worked with folks dealing with schizophrenia, those were very good years. I had passion for the work. When I finished my master's in counseling in 1992 in California I started working with Women and their children. Again, I had much passion for this work as I saw firsthand how people can recover from addictions, and their wonderful qualities that have been hidden by the addiction can come to the forefront and be expressed. Parenting improves drastically, and the children become so much happier. So yes... people do die and relapse, but I always kept my eye on recovery and those that were responding to treatment, so I did not get discouraged. I moved to Charlotte NC in 1996 and worked in another Women's Program. This was also a Women and Child program and that was my niche for some time. In 2012 I started working in Utilization Review and authorization for service work. This was a departure as it was not direct care, and the communication was with providers. Now... I would like to use the quality of care, acceptance, and empathy to help others clarify what is causing unease and how to best return to a place of ease i.e. what that would look like, perhaps not so much that things externally will change but that internally we find our way to a place of peace.

My goals for you

Often the client is very clear about what their goals are, and little is needed to elicit the goals but to ask and support the goals by helping plan how these goals might be met. Other times the process of goal setting is a longer process where motivational interviewing helps the client to figure out priorities in order to set goals. In this case, setting goals is not done in one session, not in the first session, but it is a process, to provide a container where exploration is encouraged without judgment and an open and curious heart.

My first session with you

I want to become acquainted with the client, why she/he is there, what are her/his concerns, what their history is with therapy, am I the first one or are well experienced in therapy, do they have clear goals or a vague uncomfortable feeling that something is off and are unable to articulate exactly what is wrong?