Hi! My name is Sydney, and welcome to Mind Trek Counseling! I first want to thank you for being here and taking the first step in seeking the help that you deserve!
I am a mental health therapist with experience supporting clients from diverse cultures, life experiences, and mental health concerns. I have extensive experience in working with clients who are experiencing ADHD, Autism Spectrum, LGBTQIA+ concerns/exploration, Child/Teen Therapy, Anxiety (generalized, social), Depression, PTSD/trauma, Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders, and Life Transitions (career, personal, social, relational, college, etc.).
My journey as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community has provided me with insight into authenticity and resilience. I am passionate about empowering clients to be their most authentic self through cultivating and exploring their identity. I work well with LGBTQIA+ populations, neurodivergent populations, and individuals who are open to the therapeutic process. I emphasize authenticity, empathy, support, acceptance, and cultivate a nonjudgemental space for each individual that I have the privilege to work with. Life can be overwhelming, disappointing, confusing, and isolating. Reaching out to a mental health counselor is a powerful and brave step in your healing and growth. In taking this step, you can find understanding, peace, and strength. I am here for you whenever you are ready to begin your mental health journey.
My Background
I have a background in communications for my bachelor's degree and in counseling psychology for my master's degree. I have completed trainings in both DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and RO-DBT (Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and I have been attending a weekly consultation for RO-DBT over the past year and a half. RO-DBT therapy is the existing modality for concerns of overcontrol, as described above.
How can I help?
I help you to better understand your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, while guiding you in navigating distress tolerance. I aid you in building resilience and self-compassion throughout your mental health journey in emotional regulation and understanding. I employ a strengths-based approach to further cultivate your understanding, acceptance, and empowerment of yourself. I empower you to recognize your intrinsic worth and challenge preconceived notions that are often taught to us by society. I emphasize psychoeducation to promote self-advocacy, acceptance. and normalization of mental health. My highest priority as a mental health therapist is to provide a safe, accepting, and nonjudgmental environment through authenticity. As Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers once said, “the curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
Get in Touch with Sydney
Alayna Mastrippolito, LPC, MA
My top three specialties are Autism Spectrum (neurodivergence), LGBTQIA+ Concerns, Trauma, and Anxiety.
ADHD/Autism Spectrum (neurodivergence)
I assist clients in unlearning societal expectations of "productivity" and "focus" that often lead to shame or self-doubt, and instead, I help them cultivate self-compassion and acceptance. Through a collaborative and affirming approach, I help clients address challenges such as impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, or difficulty with executive functioning, while celebrating their creativity, spontaneity, and out-of-the-box thinking. I challenge the negative narratives often imposed on ADHD individuals, such as being "lazy" or "scatterbrained," and instead foster a sense of empowerment and self-worth.
I aid clients in learning about their emotions and how to regulate such, rather than try to control one’s emotions. I guide clients in learning more about their authentic selves in the world and environment that they live in. I help clients to unlearn masking behaviors and guide them through safe and affirming behaviors. Through this acceptance, I help client’s to address their concerns from a nonjudmental, affirming, and supportive approach. I challenge client’s negative views of themselves perpetuated by the “shoulds” of socially acceptable ideas. I reach these goals by incorporating psychoeducation, coping strategies, narrative approaches, and empowerment.
LGBTQIA+
I help clients in the exploration of their identity, emphasizing a safe, supportive, and affirming approach. I aid clients in recognizing and unlearning internalized homophobia to promote self-acceptance. I guide clients through self- advocacy through empowerment. I offer a safe space of learning, understanding, acceptance, and being heard. I help clients through associated mental health concerns in this population, including anxiety and depression. With couples, I can assist clients in communication, boundaries, and further exploration and cultivation of relationships. I know that one’s identity is essential to who they are as a person, and I emphasize acceptance and support in my therapeutic approaches.
Trauma
I utlize a trauma-informed approach that includes trauma reprocessing, developing coping skills, narrative and somatic approaches, psychoeducation, and mindfulness. I cultivate a safe and empathetic environment that promotes comfortabilty. Discussing trauma can be difficult, and I approach this process as individualistic, meaning that this process is guided by the client. I will never pressure a client to discuss anything, as one’s journey with mental health is their own. I, instead, serve as a guide, a support, and a constant reminder of one’s intrinsic worth.
Anxiety
In treating anxiety, I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to guide clients in recognizing and challenging unhelpful thought patterns. By addressing these thoughts, clients can develop more balanced ways of thinking and responding to anxiety-provoking situations. In our sessions, we work on building coping skills, integrating practical grounding techniques and mindfulness exercises to reduce immediate symptoms of anxiety. My aim is to empower clients with strategies they can use daily to manage anxiety more effectively and to help them cultivate resilience and self-compassion.