Benia Thomas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received her Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University in New York with an emphasis in children, youth, and families. Benia completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Lehman College, Bronx, NY. Benia began her career working with children and families in the New York City foster care system. She went on to work with incarcerated women with severe mental illness, facilitating personal empowerment and psychoeducation groups and providing individual counseling. In addition, she was a clinical supervisor, in which she provided clinical supervision for Master level Social Workers. Her areas of expertise include, stress, anxiety and depression, grief and loss, family/relationship issues, personal growth, and LGBTQ+ related issues. She especially enjoys working with adolescents and young adults. As a lesbian who has been working with the LGBTQ+ community on a professional basis for over ten years. This background provides me with unique expertise on issues that tend to be a part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender experience. Benia believes that healing is a collaborative endeavor that requires honest caring without judgment, and cooperatively assists her clients in clarifying their goals for treatment. Rather than adopting one methodology for all individuals and issues, she draws from a variety of methods to create a tailored approach for each individual and situation. As a therapist, she is warm, open, encouraging, and direct. Benia considers herself an active therapist, combining experience, education, creativity, and sense of humor with a down-to-earth, realistic approach to counseling. Your story, your pain, and your collection of struggles are unique to you. There is no one size fits all approach to therapy. Together, we will spend time understanding exactly what you are experiencing and why, so that when you start making changes that improve your life, they will stick.