Janay Wright (she/her)

My Approach to Helping

I believe the systems we grow up in impact our worldview and expression. Depending on how much those systems still have power, they can affect your mental health as well. In many ways, I believe that counseling can be a space to work out how you are impacted by the world around you. I use theories such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and Person Centered Therapy to support my work with clients. The theories are helpful to me, but the most important part of the counseling experience is to establish trust. I believe that building rapport and a good relationship with a client is the most part of the work. From there I can start to get to know a client's values, perspectives, and suffering more in depth.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

I feel lucky to have studied rehabilitation counseling as it's deeply routed in social justice more specifically, Disability Justice. From that I frame I believe we all have a relationship with social justice and even injustice. In the space of counseling, I hope to explore that with each client. Knowing your power is to know where you are affected by social justice. As a person of color, I hope to offer empowerment to clients. Our society makes victims of so many of us. Conversely, to understand your power is to understand where victimization is limited. In counseling there are many areas to explore in order to understand how injustice affects a client. That exploration will involve understanding how values can develop, understanding relationship to society, and awareness of own behavior. Approaching social justice can be uncomfortable so I believe in the importance of rapport as I tease these issues out with a client.