Hope+Wellness

Stephanie Musa, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Hi there. I’m Stephanie :)

Stephanie Musa, LPC

Stephanie Musa, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed in: Washington DC, Virginia
Locations: Washington DC, Teletherapy

(she/her/hers)

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with expertise in the treatment of depression, anxiety, mood, stress, and life adjustment. I am passionate about helping young adults and adults navigate difficult emotions and life stressors to find hope again. I also have special interests in supporting caregivers and family members of individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI) to navigate the challenges of burnout and compassion fatigue.

My therapeutic approach is strengths-based and trauma-informed. I specialize in providing evidence-based treatments including motivational interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help clients change unhelpful thinking and behaviors while improving the ability to experience and respond effectively to difficult moods and emotions. I also incorporate mindfulness into treatment to help clients learn to live more fully and deeply in the present moment.

I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona and my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Grand Canyon University. In addition to specialized training in DBT, I have also completed high quality training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) at The Beck Institute.

Philosophy

I am passionate about helping clients to navigate the challenges that life can bring, through discovering strengths and a sense of hope and empowerment again. I work to create a safe, non-judgmental space where you can begin to heal, meeting you exactly where you are with warmth, compassion, and unconditional positive regard. My approach is person-centered and strength-based, with a focus on building insight, self-compassion, and the development of new skills to help bring about change and transformation in your life.

Specialty Areas

depression, anxiety, and mood concerns in young adults and adults

I work with individuals living with depression, anxiety, or mood concerns, who are seeking to navigate the challenges that come with changes in difficult emotions and mood that significantly impact how you experience life.

older teens, young adulthood, life adjustment, stress, and transitions

I work with older teens emerging into young adulthood, and young adults who are overwhelmed with the stressors that life can naturally bring as it relates to school, preparing for college, moving, starting a new job, making new friends, relationships, and general life transitions.

I’m passionate about creating supportive spaces for young adults and lead a support group for young adults in their 20s, both virtually and in person. This group is a place where you will find comfort and connection in sharing your struggles with others who are going through similar experiences. This group is ongoing, so please do reach out to us if you are interested! :)

family members and caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness

There are many emotional challenges that children, siblings, parents, and partners experience when living with a loved one with serious mental illness. Having a safe place to explore and understand feelings that may naturally arise like confusion, sadness, anxiety, anger, and guilt can be helpful in coping and adjusting with this life change.

I understand firsthand how difficult this adjustment can be through personal experiences in my own life as well as through my professional experiences. I’ve worked in community mental health and crisis stabilization and have also had the pleasure of serving on the Executive Board for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI DC). In these roles, I strengthened my passion in helping families cope and navigate the complexities of the mental health system and also worked to educate and advocate for individuals and their families with mental health conditions in the DC and Northern Virginia regions. Services such as this provide critical support for family members of individuals with serious mental illness.

If you are living with a loved one with serious mental illness and looking for support, I am available for short-term consultation. Together, we can help you find resources to help you support your loved one, as well as to help you feel supported to find hope and wellness while coping with these life changes.

Additional Areas of Expertise

Adjusting to Life Transitions
Anxiety
Boundaries
Caregiver Burnout
Depression
Difficult emotions or moods
Generalized Anxiety
General Stress of Being Human
Life Stress
Life Transitions
Low Self Esteem
Mood disorders
Perfectionism
Personal Growth
Relationship and Communication Difficulties
Self-Care
Self-Criticism
Self-Esteem
Sensitivity
Social Anxiety
Stress Management
Struggling to Launch
Quarter Life Crisis
Young Adults

more ABOUT ME

Hobbies + what I like to do for fun!

When I'm not in session you can find me enjoying a novel or going on walks with my dog. I especially love exploring Rock Creek Park in DC! I also enjoy painting with watercolors. It's helped me to learn to go with the flow and embrace the "happy little accidents" that happen often when painting or learning a new skill!

Some of my favorite approaches and resources include

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an approach I like to use in therapy. The name reflects a key message--we work on accepting what is outside of our control and commit to taking actions that help us build the life we want for ourselves. One of my favorite resources is Values Clarification, where we explore together what is most important to you and help you connect with these in a way that is meaningful to you. Some values that resonate with me are: learning, fun, leisure, and nature.

What I love about hope+wellness

I love that Hope+Wellness encourages us clinicians to be our authentic selves. This helps me to be able to do the same for my clients. I strive to create a safe space where my clients can openly express and be their genuine self. Whether this means we're talking about our feelings, life stressors, life's pleasures, or being silly and having a good laugh! I believe that when we feel safe to be ourselves in therapy we can start to let go of what weighs us down, begin to see our true potential, and start doing the things that matter and are most important to us.

favorite QUOTES

“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
— Michelle Obama
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”
— Brené Brown
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
— Carl Rogers
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of your past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
— Melody Beattie
These negative thinking patterns can influence our mood and exacerbate feelings of anxiety, depression, or other feelings of insecurity and self doubt. This can then contribute to a pattern of unhealthy behaviors–which in turn starts the cycle
CBT is an approach that focuses on how our thinking patterns influence our behavioral patterns. The main idea behind CBT is that thoughts influence how we feel and act. Basically: how we act can in turn also affect how we think and feel in a given si
If you’re thinking of starting therapy, you’ve likely run into the term modality before. A modality is the approach a therapist takes when providing care for their patients. One of the modalities we utilize here is called Cognitive Behavi
EMDR was initially developed to help process trauma, and lessen the effects of PTSD, and it is an incredibly powerful way to treat trauma, including trauma from childhood or abuse. However, research has shown that EMDR can be helpful with a number of
Some of the phases go faster than others, and once you are ready to begin reprocessing, most of your EMDR sessions will be some combination of phases 3-8. #emdr #emdrTherapy #nervoussystemdysregulation #nervoussystem #complexptsd #psychoeducation #
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987 when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, relate
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987 when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, relate
To start, you pick which of the five emotions feels closest to what you’re feeling. As the rings move outward, the terms get more and more specific. So for example, maybe you can only identify that you feel sad. If you start at sad, and go one
Developing a greater awareness of your emotions can help you find ways to cope with difficult emotions that arise, make values-aligned decisions, enhance relationships with others, and develop a greater sense of self esteem. Identifying emotions and
Emotions can seem scary because we just aren’t taught a lot about them. When we shy away from understanding them, they become these all powerful entities that can control our lives. But the truth is, emotions (and the experience of having any e