Find a therapist in Pennsylvania — covered by insurance

Life is full of complexities, ups, and downs. Whether you’re navigating challenges with relationships, anxiety, or the exhaustion of life’s stressors, I am confident we can work together to help you find peace and healing.With over 15 years of experience in the mental health field, I bring a deep and well-rounded understanding of the challenges individuals and families face throughout their lives. I have worked extensively with children, adolescents, and adults across various levels of care. These experiences allow me to meet clients with insight, flexibility, and a strong appreciation for each person’s unique story.

My background has been shaped by walking alongside people through some of life’s most difficult and vulnerable experiences. I began working in hospice care, where I learned the importance of presence, compassion, and creating space for grief and meaning at the end of life. From there, I moved into intensive case management and addiction counseling in a methadone clinic, supporting individuals navigating substance use, trauma, and significant life challenges. Over time, my work has focused more deeply on individuals living with complex trauma, dissociation, personality disorders, severe mental illness, and experiences of domestic violence. These experiences have taught me how important it is to move gently, build trust at a pace that feels safe, and truly meet people where they are. I bring a steady, nonjudgmental presence into the therapy room, with the understanding that healing often begins in feeling seen, understood, and not alone.

Hello! As a licensed professional counselor, I want to help you achieve your best self. Asking for help can be difficult, so it's great that you are looking into getting help. I have been in practice for 10 years and look forward to working with you to achieve your goals.

I embrace the philosophy of "meeting people where they are at" when it comes to treatment. Whether it is serious mental illness or "first world problems," the first step is understanding the symptom experiences and environmental/relational factors, building a safe therapeutic environment, and determining what progress in treatment looks like for you. My aim is to empower you, be curious and open-minded about your lived experiences, explore meaningful ways to make changes, utilize non-judgmental approaches to challenge thoughts/narratives that have contributed to the reason(s) for treatment, and/or facilitate better communication with supports. I specialize in working with people who who struggle with communicating their unique symptoms/experiences, making therapy difficult to try or intimidating or as a result have been through the "ringer" of mental health treatment with a variety of potential diagnoses.

As a licensed professional counselor I have helped clients work through challenging times such as processing grief, rebuilding their self confidence, establishing boundaries, and surviving the post partum period. I earned a Masters degree in Community Counseling from Duquesne University and have worked in the field for over 10 years.

Vanessa Ivins is a dedicated Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She obtained a Bachelor's and Master's of Social Work from Rutgers University. Vanessa has eight years of clinical mental health experience serving the child, adolescent, and adult populations. To ensure she provides the most effective and up-to-date therapeutic services, Vanessa completes continuing education training annually. Most of Vanessa’s experience was garnered through working in community behavioral health by facilitating individual therapy, group therapy, and family therapy. She is bilingual and enjoys showing cultural awareness and support to Spanish-speaking clients.

Vanessa uses a variety of therapeutic practices to meet the needs of her clients. To meet the needs of children and adolescents, she prefers the use of traditional talk therapy along with play therapy, art therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies. Vanessa is trauma-trained and uses a combination of traditional talk therapy approaches as well as EMDR strategies to meet the needs of her adult clients. She specializes in treating adults impacted by domestic violence. Vanessa provides everyone with a safe and confidential environment where they can talk about the most difficult experiences affecting their life. Vanessa empowers all of her clients to face whatever challenges come their way and to persevere through no matter the level of difficulty.

Vanessa is currently accepting clients of all ages with availability for 60-minute therapy sessions. All sessions are facilitated using a HIPAA-compliant virtual platform. Vanessa is available for early morning therapy sessions several days per week. Her hours of availability consist of early morning, evening, and weekend hours.

Who am I?

I am Shikeena Lynard-Greene MA, NCC, LPC- a counselor, educator, and founder of PACWELLNESS. Clients describe me as calm, encouraging, and very practical. I believe therapy should feel safe, structured, and useful.

I love what I do, and I know why I do it. Since 2007 my focus has been coming along side of people and assisting them with challenges they face in life to become the most authentic and genuine person they were meant to be. In my own journey I've come to accept and appreciate the gifts I've been given, even if they're seemingly unrelated. I love my work as a therapist and I will always be passionate about performing music. How the two coexist within me is the journey I'm on. My focus has been in becoming a better therapist each day ... but I also know I'll never stop playing guitar and performing music, it's part of who I am.