Carla Runnels has over 12 years of experience in the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from McDaniel College, graduating magna cum laude and with the highest honors in the psychology department. She received her Master of Arts degree is Clinical Psychology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2012. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and specializes in the treatment of substance use disorders (addiction) and recovery, as well as supporting the family and loved ones who struggle with them. She also has extensive experience treating depression, bipolar disorder, general anxiety issues, relationship or marital concerns, family conflict/estrangement, adjustment issues or major life changes, suicidality, self-harm, and LGBTQAI+ issues. Carla uses techniques from many theoretical frameworks for treatment including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing, and psychodynamic approaches. Carla is empathic, validating, and even humorous to help establish rapport with clients and to form a therapeutic relationship that feels safe and comfortable. She places an emphasis on building collaborative therapeutic relationships that help her clients to feel understood and accepted. She worked with a variety of populations: sexual offenders, a partial hospitalization program for teenagers, private practice with age ranges 13 and above, inpatient addiction treatment facilities for six years as a counselor in detoxification, medically supervised detox, and rehab levels of care, and even wrote the curriculum for inpatient, partial, and intensive outpatient programming at a multi-site treatment facility. She then trained staff at all levels at sites to utilize the programming. Carla also has experience as a clinical trainer who trained on everything from mandated reporting to ethics in therapeutic relationships. Carla has extensive experience with conductive group therapy at all levels of care and continues to do so. She currently runs a Loved Ones of Addicts Group and Harm Reduction Group. She has been in private practice since 2013 and loves what she does!