Licensed Professional Counselor
Carolyn Alvarado is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, VA with a MA in Mental Health Counseling and she obtained a B.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NY.
Carolyn is a bilingual (fluent Spanish speaker) counselor that loves working with children and their families through their process of self-discovery and growth. Her work as a counselor reflects her compassionate nature and desire to be authentic and develop impactful relationships with clients. Core to her approach is being person-centered and culturally competent/sensitive.
“It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried.” ~Carl R. Rogers
Carolyn incorporates mindfulness strategies and strength-based strategies in her practice to support the client in grounding and utilizing their strengths as resources to work through their distress and better care for themselves. Carolyn is aware of how difficult it is to make life changes and utilizes Motivational Interviewing strategies in counseling to help her clients find the internal motivation needed. In working with children and teenagers Carolyn enjoys utilizing play therapy strategies, mindfulness, and creative arts therapeutic strategies such as art, music, and sand tray to support the expression of feelings that are hard to verbalize.
Over the past two years, Carolyn has worked in her community providing Intensive In-home services and outpatient therapy to a variety of clients and their families (children, adolescents, and adults). She has experience working with clients in the midst of crisis, and a variety of mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety, trauma, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, identity questioning, anger management, mental health skill building, familial conflicts, grief, and substance use. Carolyn has worked in school settings as a teacher’s aide and completed her practicum experience as a student counselor working with children grades k-5th. Within her community, Carolyn has led children’s anti-bullying and discrimination campaigns for her local church.
Carolyn provides a fresh and up-to-date approach to therapy, valuing the therapeutic relationship as central to achieving goals toward wellness.
