Hi! My name is Irinel and I am a Master’s Level Holistic Intern at Wisdom Within Counseling in Niantic, Connecticut. I love empowering children, teens, adults, and families to navigate hardships and lead fulfilling, meaningful lives.
To me, being a therapist means dedicating my livelihood in service of others. I love being a therapist because I care deeply for those around me. Therapy is an integral aspect of one’s healing journey, and working with a therapist that displays compassion and authenticity can make all the difference.
Areas I Help Support:
- Stress and anxiety
- Depression
- Self-harm
- Couples and relationship issues
- High conflict couples
- School concerns
- Life changes
- Peer relationships and dating
- ADHD
- Women’s issues
- Narcissistic relationships
- Selective mutism
- Trauma and PTSD
- Eating and feeding disorders
- Family conflict
- Self-esteem
- Military families
- Emotional regulation
To begin, click below for a phone consult for child, teen, and couples therapy 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 mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing.
I believe that optimal health and wellness can be achieved through balancing emotions. For example, if your social wellbeing is thriving, but your physical health is being neglected, then this creates stress and anxiety.
I also believe that the mind and body reciprocally influence one another. In session, 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. You can become more in tune with your bodily sensations.
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.”
My Favorite Quote
“Expanded awareness makes life orderly even in the midst of disorder.”
Deepak Chopra
Play Therapy for Anxious Children
Given my experience and love of helping 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 their emotions, and form deeper connections with others.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, 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 tapping, progressive muscle relaxation, and self-massage 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.
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!
When I’m not providing therapy to children, teens, and couples, I love spending time at the beach!
I am an avid sea-glass collector and I love walking along the shoreline to look for pieces. My other favorite hobbies include doing yoga, creating art, hiking, kayaking, and gardening. I also have two very cute, fluffy cats and a puppy that I adore.
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.
My Experience
I have been supporting clients at Wisdom Within Counseling since June of 2021. Prior to my position here, I worked as a Preschool Teaching Assistant in Rhode Island. As a teacher, I conducted educational classroom activities and supervised children ages 2-5 years old. In addition to working with little ones, I also have experience working with middle school aged children in educational summer programs. From 2017-2021, I also worked at Salve Regina University as a Writing Consultant, where I tutored college students in the writing disciplines.
