Leslie Warren, Masters, Social, Work, LICSW, PIP

About Leslie Warren

Welcome to my web page at BetterHelp. Did you know that over 42% of the United States population has sought some type of mental help services in their lifetime? Another 36% of the United States population have thought about seeking out mental health services to address all ranges of mental health issues. It takes initiative, courage and self-awareness to reach out for help. The hardest part of reaching out for help is finding a therapist that is compassionate, warm, understanding, non-judgmental, and a good listener that fits a client's mental health needs while accommodating home, school, and work balance within the scope of everyday life. Furthermore, it is even more difficult to navigate the process of what to expect in therapy to achieve positive outcomes in mental health wellness. I firmly believe in the philosophy that "if you do not 'jive' with a therapist, do not quit counseling, just find a therapist you do." In my professional experience I have often heard clients state, "My therapist does not listen to me. They just tell me things I already know." This is not the experience that I want to give any of my clients. I believe in the philosophy "treat others like you would want to be treated and walk a mile in their shoes." I believe that everyone is an expert of their own life and that the therapist should empower a client to concentrate on things that they can control within their environment through positivity, thus, avoiding the traps of "should haves, could haves, would haves, must haves" that can cause a person to become paralyze within their own psyche. The counselor/client relationship should be a collaborative one that does not leave the client feeling deflated but empowered with new tools to try to improve overall mental health functioning. I have had many clients come with high expectations that the therapist "will fix them, or give them advice". This is one thing that no therapist can do as this would be taking individual power away from the