Dana West

Dana’s Bio

Philosophy of Care, Personal Experience & Approach, Education, Clinical Experience and Community Involvement

Philosophy of Care:

Are you a survivor of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse? Are you lacking joy in your everyday life? Do you find yourself doing the same foolish, irrational or irresponsible behavior over and over? Do you usually feel different and inadequate in social situations? Do you feel like you have been isolating or running from your past and feelings? Imagine accepting and loving yourself inside and out and accomplishing your dreams, goals, and aspirations.

Dana’s smile and warmth makes it easy for clients to connect with her and feel a sense of hope that she can help! Dana’s client’s love her so much often they continue to see her for mentoring and coaching long after they have resolved their issues! Dana can help you find balance and joy in your work and your relationships, and improve your feelings of self-worth. Dana specializes in helping individuals to truly love themselves and to let go of belief systems and emotions that interfere with their authentic spiritual growth and purpose.

Professional Experience:

Dana has a passion of helping others to heal from their past so it no longer effects ones present and future. Dana believes that a lot of symptoms that people face such as depression, relationship and marital issues, anxiety, self-esteem, addictions and other mood disorders stem from a greater issue. Dana first starts treating the presenting problem and symptoms to help her client’s find stability and relief.

Afterwards, she whole-heartedly believes in addressing the core issues or the roots that the symptoms are stemming from. Once the root is exposed to the light, addressed with compassion, love, and nurture they will no longer take a hold of one’s emotional well-being and relationships. Dana believes if we don’t end up dealing with and healing the root issues therapy will just be a bandaid and one may struggle with the same presenting problems they came in with again in the future. Dana has a passion to help others find emotional freedom and live the abundant life they were designed to have with loved ones and friends.

Dana is a Sexual Abuse Survivor

Dana has a strong belief in this approach to counseling due to her own personal life experiences. Dana has felt it has been her life calling since early childhood to be a therapist and to help support others. She has a unique ability to emphasize, connect, and relate to others with their emotional and relational struggles. Dana is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and has worked through her own emotional and relational issues due to this childhood trauma. She has recovered from her own mood instability, emotional eating problems, and emotional intimacy issues that were directly correlated to her root issue of abuse. She now lives in full freedom and lives an abundant and joyful life. She finds her life mission to help others find freedom from their past childhood traumas and issues that interfere with their current emotional health and intimate relationships.

Dana also loves working with couples to help them develop skills to be vulnerable and emotionally intimate with one another. She finds it essential for couples to to be “best friends” and to teach them to develop skills to love each other unconditionally, to learn to fully express themselves to one another in emotionally vulnerable and healthy ways, and to spend quality time together connecting and having fun. Life can bring many trials to one’s marriage and it is vital for couples to get an emotional tune-up to learn how to grow and adapt with each other while remaining best friends and life partners regardless of the circumstances. She believes whole-heartedly that marriages can be restored with assistance and TLC. Dana is happily married to the president of Total Life Counseling, Jim West, LMHC. She loves working alongside him to provide hope, healing, and support to individuals, couples, children and families with the many difficult challenges they face.

Orlando Marriage Counseling & Winter Park Sexual Abuse Therapist and Addictions Counselor Dana Risucci West provides therapy for Marriage, Addiction, Sexual Abuse & Trauma Counseling Issues Orlando. Dana specializes in addressing all issues that impede one’s growth by using an authentic, compassionate, and honest approach. She provides a safe, warm environment that allows others to express their core feelings that interfere with their emotional and relational well-being.

Dana’s expertise is with teen and adult substance abuse, mood disorders, post traumatic stress disorder from sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, eating disorders, marriage or relationship issues and self-esteem.

Education:

Dana received your Masters Degree in Social Work at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton as well as her undergraduate degree in Psychology.

Clinical Experience and Community Involvement

Dana has been practicing since 2004 and has worked in community mental health centers, a residential addictions and mental health treatment center, and a full time private practice. Her expertise are addiction recovery, sexual abuse recovery, personality disorders, depression, anxiety, bi-polar, family codependency and relationship issues. Below are some of the facilities and centers where she has practiced.

Private Practice

Dana started her private practice in 2009 and was overwhelmed by how busy she became in just 3 short months due to the level of care, excellence and results her clients received. Her focus in private practice has been in addictions, womens issues, sexual abuse and trauma.

Wellness Resource Center

For 4 years Dana was a primary dual diagnosis therapist for addictions and mental health. She ran men and women’s groups as well as trauma and mental wellness. She was one of the favorite group facilitators by the patients as she is very engaging, entertaining and interactive.

Trees of Hope

Dana has facilitated several groups for sexual abuse victims at Trees of Hope in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She has been the director of facilitators since 2009. She has helped to multiply the groups by training multiple facilitators some of which have come through Dana’s groups. Many more women experience healing and freedom from their past abuse because of Dana’s excellent facilitator trainings.

Smith Community Mental Health

This was an alternative school day treatment program for emotionally handicapped children. She was a primary therapist for middle school children.

Professional Licenses & Memberships:

• Dana West, MSW, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Florida.
• NASW – Dana is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.
• Psychology Today – Dana is a licensed social work and certified by Psychology Today.