Hi! My name is Irinel and I am an LPCA at Wisdom Within Counseling in Niantic, Connecticut. I love empowering children, teens, adults, couples, and families to navigate hardships and lead fulfilling, meaningful lives.
Areas I Help Support:
- Stress and anxiety
- Depression
- Self-harm
- Couples and relationship issues
- Sex and intimacy
- School concerns
- Life changes
- Peer relationships and dating
- Alcohol use
- Trauma and PTSD
- Eating and feeding disorders
- Family conflict
- Self-esteem
- Military families
- Emotional regulation
Click the button below to meet with Irinel.
My Holistic Approach To Counseling Children, Teens, and Couples
As a holistic practitioner, I view children, teens, and couples through a whole person, integrative lens. This means that I strive to support children, teens, and couples in every facet of their life including one’s mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing. Whether it be past experiences or future goals, I help clients explore and understand the depths of their inner-selves.
In session, I work with clients to integrate mind and body. I offer children, teens, and couples somatic work, meditation skills, and grounding techniques. These strengthen the connection between your neural network and your physical awareness. Engaging in these mindfulness skills also allows you to become more in tune with your bodily sensations. These techniques even help to tap into and resolve past trauma that is being stored within the body.
Client Testimonial: “Our experience was excellent. Irinel is wonderful and we are really looking forward to working with her!”
Client Testimonial: “We are very happy with Irinel. We are hoping to get our child in every Tuesday. The schedule for counseling works perfectly with our child’s art classes at Barn for Artistic Youth across the street.”
Play Therapy for Anxious Children
I find play therapy to be an effective means of supporting a child’s growth and development. Children are naturally imaginative, creative beings. Therefore, play is the language in which they perceive the world around them.
Engaging in play therapy allows the therapist to enter into the child’s world and communicate with them in a way they understand. Play therapy can help a child learn how to self-soothe, process big life changes, regulate and express their emotions, and form deeper connections with others.
I love using puppets, stuffed animals, sensory modalities, books, musical instruments, and other therapeutic toys to help anxious children conquer their fears and feel confident in their endeavors.
Trauma Therapy For Children, Teens, and Couples
I am deeply passionate about helping clients heal from past trauma. If left unresolved, traumatic events can linger in our every day lives and impact our daily functioning. Trauma is often stored within the body. Working with myself, a trauma-informed therapist, can help you to access and release the tension you are holding within.
Holistic therapies are evidence-based and highly effective at targeting symptoms of trauma and PTSD. Somatic experiencing techniques such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization can alleviate trauma, ease tension in the body, and help children, teens, and couples cope with PTSD symptoms in healthy ways.
My Favorite Coping Tool!
If you are prone to stress or anxiety, having a self-care box handy is a great way to cope!
Gather personal items that bring you happiness, peace, and comfort. It can be helpful to include something that stimulates each of your senses. For example, you may use putty for touch, chocolate for taste, an essential oil for smell, a wind chime for sound, and a happy photograph for sight.
The idea behind the self-care box is to have an array of items to choose from when you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed, overstimulated, or have heightened anxiety. These items will help you to feel grounded and return to a relenting state of relaxation.
Supporting Couples In Counseling
I am Gottman Marital Therapy Level 1 and Level 2 certified to support couples in overcoming conflict, developing effective communication skills, and establishing long-lasting, meaningful relationships.
I also have a passion for navigating sex and intimacy struggles as they surface in relationships. I offer a safe environment for individuals and couples to open up about sex in a healthy, productive manner.
One fun tip you can do with your partner to foster connection is download Gottman Card Decks on the Appstore. This app is a virtual card deck packed with questions, statements, and ideas for improving the quality of your relationship. Begin by reading the question on the first card aloud and then answering it about your partner. Then, it is your partners turn to read the next card and answer the question about you. This is a playful way to learn new things about your partner and engage in novel conversations about your life together.
Client Testimonial: “She was very patient, caring, and supportive. I know that first sessions are just laying the foundation. I’m excited to hear her thoughts more on these follow up sessions.” – October 2023
Fun Facts About Me!
I am an avid sea-glass collector and I love walking along the shoreline to look for pieces. My other favorite hobbies include barre class, creating art, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with my pets.
I would love to work with you, you and your partner, or your child! I provide in-person sessions to Connecticut families, and Telehealth video sessions.
