Christina Araya, Counseling Associate

I work out of a cultural awareness approach which focuses on the ways in which the various factors of identity and personhood and societal systems and structures can cause, maintain or exacerbate a person's mental health. I pay close attention to my clients' verbal and nonverbal communication. I am trained to use cognitive, emotional, behavioural, relational, mindfulness and existential based approaches to supporting clients in exploring themselves and their experiences in order to gain understanding, resolve any conflicts and identify and implement strategies to manage or eliminate stress and acute or sever mental health disorders.  I combine body and mind, mindfulness, attachment, spirituality, and cognitive techniques in a structured treatment plan and process designed to meet each client’s specific treatment needs.

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My clients' goals often include growing comfortable taking up space, gaining self- awareness, developing self leadership and empowerment, social emotional learning, grieving disappointing or lost childhood, developing attunement and reducing suppression or avoidance, skills to mange life and reduce procrastination, morning the unmet needs, processing emotions that have been shut off and reducing guilt and shame by talking about all the taboo things. 

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I collaborate with teenagers and adults in using behavioural, psychoanalytic, psychodynamic and trauma-focused frameworks to explore on past or ongoing patterns, experiences and memories and identify any influences they might behaving on current ways of being. Most of all, we also identify a path and process for the future! No worries if that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable because your ants and needs have been ignored in the past. We will walk you toward getting you comfortable with accessing yourself and create space where you feel safe with having want, needs desires and even ideas and feelings. Together we work through shame, immigrant experiences, guilt, family conflict/intergenerational trauma, sexual, emotional and physical abuse, parental neglect or abandonment that causes distress. 

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Some of the mental health diagnoses I have worked with clients through include

PTSD/trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance use and OCD tendencies. Through our collaborative work, my clients might be able yo decrease, resolve or eliminate negative responses to memories and impact related to trauma. This is a process focused on instilling hope. Meaning, you'll learn some ways to deal with stress, distress, triggers and anxiety related to trauma and related anxiety, depression, dissociation and more. You'll also break cognitive (and negative) associations resulting from experiences or disorders and develop more meaningful thought patterns, behavioral responses and belief systems.​​

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I received my Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. I am certified by the Virginia Board of Counseling to provide mental health diagnosis, assessment and treatment under supervision as Resident.

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