LouCouPsych

12/13/2023

Trouble with benzodiazepines? Learn how to get help in our latest blog post about The Ashton Method!

08/22/2023

We are excited to welcome Dr. Pranav Reddy, MD to our growing team of psychiatrists at LouCouPsych! Dr. Reddy comes to us after completing his residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA.

Dr. Reddy is currently accepting adult patients throughout the state of Virginia, and is seeing patients via telehealth only at this time.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Pranav Reddy, MD to our growing team of psychiatrists at LouCouPsych! Dr. Reddy comes to us after completing his residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. Dr. Reddy is currently accepting adult patients throughout the state of Virginia, and is seeing....

05/23/2023

In this enlightening episode, Dr. Sulman Aziz Mirza sits down with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Dimitrios Tsatiris, who specializes in the treatment of anxiety in high achievers. They focus on a rarely discussed but highly important topic: the mental health of healthcare providers.

Healthcare providers, those at the forefront of our medical services, often face unique challenges and pressures that can significantly affect their mental health. The discussion delves into these unique pressures, the hesitancy among healthcare professionals to seek help for their own mental health concerns, and the common mental health issues that arise within this group.

In this enlightening episode, Dr. Sulman Aziz Mirza, a triple board-certified psychiatrist, sits down with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Dimitrios Tsatiris, who specializes in the treatment of anxiety in high achievers. They focus on a rarely discussed but highly important topic: the mental health of he...

03/05/2022

We are pleased to announce our newest member of LouCouPsych, Jo-Ann Schaaf, as a Resident-in-Counseling, working under the supervision of Ellie Moran, LPC. Jo-Ann is accepting new clients now for individual and family therapy, and works with children, adolescents, and adults. Jo-Ann will be offering a mix of in-person or video therapy. Please help us welcome Jo-Ann to the team, and hear about her in her own words!

"Jo-Ann Schaaf is a Resident in Counseling in the State of Virginia. She obtained her Bachelors degree from the University of Maryland University College and her Masters degree from National Louis University. She also has a Masters degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. Jo-Ann has experience in school guidance and counseling, job training program, intensive in-home counseling, and outpatient counseling. She utilizes a variety of integrative approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, person-centered, acceptance and commitment therapy, and solution-focused brief therapy to provide a flexible and holistic approach. She works with children, adolescents, and adults. Her goal is to help her clients fully embrace their experience and empower them to take an active role in changing their perceptions, emotions, and behaviors.

Jo-Ann is passionate about helping minority groups and others who feel marginalized by society; being an ethnic minority, she is able to empathize with their lived experience as well as the process of negotiating or navigating between two or more cultures."

10/23/2021

Women's Group Starting November 2!

We will be starting our Women's Group (Online) on November 2, and are currently accepting clients to start this cycle. Led by Dawn Gallagher, LPC, the group will be online via Google Meet on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8pm, with an 8 week curriculum, with a sequential and structured psychoeducation curriculum, focusing on strengths, processing, as well as practicing appropriate interventions.

Per Dawn, "Have you ever wondered what your strengths are and how they can help you move towards a more meaningful life? Research has shown that two thirds of people are unaware of their strengths, but that all people have positive traits they can use to empower them to overcome obstacles, reduce stress, and live a more meaningful life (Linley, 2008, Niemiec, 2017). If you are interested in finding out what is right with you and you want a safe place to explore your true self with a group of other women then please join us."

We will be starting our Women's Group (Online) on November 2, and are currently accepting clients to start this cycle. Led by Dawn Gallagher, LPC, the group will be online via Google Meet on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8pm, with an 8 week curriculum, with a sequential and structured psychoeducation c...

07/01/2021

We are extremely pleased to announce an addition that has been years in the making, our newest psychiatrist, Dr. Omer Haroon, MD! Dr. Haroon comes to LouCouPsych from New York, having worked on the inpatient psychiatric units at esteemed institutions throughout the state, and brings a wealth of experience working with seriously mentally ill adults patients. Dr. Haroon is currently working at one of the state hospitals in Virginia, but is excited to be joining LouCouPsych as he begins his medication management clinic.

Starting July 20, Dr. Haroon will be seeing general psychiatry adult patients on Tuesday evenings via in-person or telemedicine visits. In the future, Dr. Haroon will be able to see patients for medication assisted treatment with buprenorphine products, as well as working alongside Dr. Mirza in Spravato treatment.

https://www.loucoupsych.com/post/welcome-to-our-newest-psychiatrist-dr-omer-haroon-md

06/17/2021

We are extremely proud to announce starting what we have wanted to do for some time now, a Women's Group, run by our therapist Dawn Gallagher, LPC. The structure of the Women's Group is to create a group that is 10 weeks long, 90 minutes once weekly, with up to 8 participants, with Dawn being the facilitator, with a sequential and structured psychoeducation curriculum, focusing on strengths, processing, as well as practicing appropriate interventions. This group will be online only at this time.

Per Dawn, "Have you ever wondered what your strengths are and how they can help you move towards a more meaningful life? Research has shown that two thirds of people are unaware of their strengths, but that all people have positive traits they can use to empower them to overcome obstacles, reduce stress, and live a more meaningful life (Linley, 2008, Niemiec, 2017).

If you are interested in finding out what is right with you and you want a safe place to explore your true self with a group of other women then please join us."

Please contact us using the Message Us button on the right, or Request More Information button below to get started!

05/24/2021

After COVID changed our initial plans, we are pleased to announce that we are finally able start one of our most highly requested services, group therapy! When we moved into our new office before the COVID pandemic, there was a specific room that was set aside for group therapy; as we are moving towards reopening as a society, we are excited to be able to put that room towards its intended use. With the addition of Steven B. Singer to the staff, who brings decades of experience with group therapy with him amongst numerous disciplines, we are more prepared than ever to be able to meet this need for the community.

At this time, we are planning to start to offer three specific in-person groups: an Adult Substance Use Disorders Group, an Adult Depression and Anxiety Group, and an Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Group. Group therapy is designed to support medication management, individual or family psychotherapy, or as a stand alone service. The groups will be open, meaning that group members are able to join and leave the group as desired (no specific scheduled blocks of weeks/cycles). The focus will be on CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) strategies to work through the specific group's objective. Groups will have a maximum capacity of 12 participants with a minimum of 3; groups will meet weekly for up to 90 minutes. Each group member will be assessed individually by the group leader in order to determine goodness of fit, as well as provide appropriate informed consent and expectations for group therapy.

For any additional questions, please contact us and we will get back to you with additional information as soon as possible. We are very excited to be able to offer this service, as well as offering more groups in the future!

https://www.loucoupsych.com/post/introducing-group-therapy-at-loucoupsych

05/21/2021

Please welcome Dawn Gallagher, LPC to LouCouPsych! We are extremely proud to be able to expand our therapy and counseling services to better serve our community. Dawn is currently taking clients for teletherapy only, with a focus on adults and older adults as well, especially in areas of trauma, relationship issues, life transitions and role changes, gender identity, personality disorders, as well as substance abuse.

"Dawn is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Idaho and Virginia. Dawn received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Hope International University in California. She continued her education and training, receiving a Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling from Liberty University in Virginia. Dawn has experience providing treatment in numerous inpatient and outpatient settings with people from diverse backgrounds. Her outpatient, inpatient, and institutional clinical training and experience have uniquely prepared her for private practice counseling. In her work in outpatient community counseling Dawn provided psychotherapy to help local residents meet their mental health and substance use challenges. In her work in detox and crisis stabilization, she provided assessments and treatment for residents to assist them with potentially life-threatening substance use, and mental health issues and severe life problems, and in her work at the State Psychiatric Hospital, she worked shoulder to shoulder with psychiatrists to provide safe and effective treatment for a broad range of mental health and substance use issues.

Dawn’s philosophy of treatment is informed by her belief that every person is intrinsically valuable, has a unique story to tell and the right to be heard by an objective, caring, professional who provides a safe place to grow. Dawn believes therapy should not be offered as a one size fits all experience, that it should be individualized, according to her client’s wants and needs. Dawn believes treatment should involve collaboration between the client and therapist. Dawn is passionate about assisting her clients in finding out what is important to them, identifying obstacles they are facing, growing through challenges, and helping them to find hope necessary to move forward again.

Dawn has experience with various therapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills, Solution Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Strengths Based Therapy and various integrative approaches."

https://www.loucoupsych.com/dawn-gallagher-lpc

05/05/2021

Presenting our winner for the 2021 LouCouPsych Scholarship, Megan Boyd, a senior at Falls Church High School, who will be going to James Madison University in the fall to study Kinesiology with plans of pursuing a career in physical therapy! I screwed up with the recording (oops), so sadly missed out on her audio, but was able to get the reaction on video to the award! Thank you to all the donors as well who made this possible! Please congratulate Megan on this award and wish her all the best in her future endeavors and pursuits :)

Megan's essay on mental health awareness below:
"Mental health awareness in today's society couldn’t be more important. The past year has been crazy, an intense election and a global pandemic, just to name a few, and there is no doubt of the mental health toll it's caused so many people. We as a society have come a long way regarding mental health awareness, but breaking the stigma of reaching out for help is something we all could work on.

At the beginning of the 2019 school year, my leadership class decided to try to end the stigma surrounding su***de for su***de prevention month, and I took on the task of making a video regarding it. I wanted to make something that would really show how many people struggle with suicidial thoughts and su***de all together, so I started by asking a few people if the would share the importance to them of breaking the stigma. It really surprised me how many people were willing and volunteered to share their stories with me and the school. Some of my favorite teachers and classmates were sharing stories about how they had attempted su***de, or how the had been affected by their own family and friends committing su***de. So, after the video was done and put together, it completely opened my eyes to see so many people in my high school share their own stories on how they have struggled with suicidal thought and actions, and the effects of other peoples su***de. It made me think of how many people we would never imagine to be mentally ill suffer these things.

I got a call in February 2020 that one of my closest family friends had committed su***de. He was someone I had always seen as a funny, happy, kind person, and had taken his own life. I couldn’t help but think how many other people suffer in silence, and specifically men. Mental health is especially stigmatized with men, and lots of them see seeking help or sharing emotion as a sign of weakness. Many men have said they experienced guilt and shame for asking for help, which all comes back to toxic masculinity. Us as a society has to do better with the stigma of asking for help. We could all do better by educating kids from the beginning of elementary school on not being afraid to reach out.

In more recent events, quarantine had a lot of people who weren't able to leave their houses and have distractions, stuck in potentially toxic households. Many people suffered from anxiety from covid numbers rising. The mental health effects from covid were very damaging to a huge amount of people. However, the way many schools went out of their way to make this year as easy as possible with grading and limiting assignments really helped, and I believe that the overall awareness of mental health during the pandemic completely helped some people get through the tough time. The increased awareness of mental health is getting so much better, and if it keeps getting better, even more people will be positively impacted.

Mental health awareness in any society is important, but over the past year, I have noticed that it is extremely important with everything that has gone on. In a society where mental illnesses affect 13% of children, 19% of adults, and 46% of teenagers, and where only 50% of those people will get help, we must do better to have mental health awareness. It is such a huge amount of the population, but it is still so stigmatized. Mental health awareness in today’s society is super important, and it will save lives by continuing to break the stigma."

04/29/2021

Starting Wednesday, May 5, Dr. Mirza will be resuming with in-person visits for those that would like to come back in-person and those that have been vaccinated. We will ask that for those that want to come back in-person to please let us know when you receive your appointment confirmation via Klara, and to please provide proof of vaccination. For those that would prefer to maintain appointments via telemedicine, that option will always remain and be available. For clients of Rachel, Ellie, and Steven, please check with them individually in regards to options available for in-person appointments or remaining via telehealth.

We are so very happy to be able to open our beautiful new office to our patients and clients, as we moved into our new location 2 weeks before the world changed forever. Welcome back, we truly have missed you!

04/10/2021

Please welcome Steven Singer, MEd, MPA, CAADC, LPC to LouCouPsych! We are extremely pleased to be able to announce a long overdue expansion to our therapy/counseling services. Steven is accepting teen and adult patients now!

About Steven:
"Steven B. Singer, M.Ed., MPA, CAADC, LPC is a licensed psychotherapist in Virginia and a Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Treatment Counselor. Mr. Singer is a seasoned behavioral health clinician with 30 years of experience in the counseling field. His therapeutic approach is informed from his career experiences in counseling incarcerated juvenile and adult offenders, law enforcement, child protective services, community mental health, non-profit organizations school counseling, on-site employee assistance counseling and 16 years in a solo private practice. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is Mr. Singer’s primary orientation; however, he believes in the development of a strong, trusting therapeutic relationship as the key to successful therapeutic outcomes.

Mr. Singer is also a Critical Incident Stress Management practitioner. He has provided on-site crisis and consultative services to public, private, and non-profit organizations in metropolitan Washington, DC, the Northern Shenandoah Valley, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. In addition to the Master of Counselor Education, Mr. Singer holds the Master of Public Administration degree with work experience in local, county and state government. He has also provided clinical services to first responders since 1991."

https://www.loucoupsych.com/steven-singer-med-mpa-caadc-lpc