Why Trailhead?
Therapy is a lot like hiking—one of my own life’s passions. When you start a hike, at the trailhead, it’s not always clear whether the path ahead will be flat and smooth or an uphill climb. Often, there are twists and turns and you end up uncovering entirely new ground. It can be both exhilarating and exhausting. Getting out there takes courage—but it helps to have a trusted guide beside you.
I work with clients with a wide range of backgrounds and personal stories, across ages from adolescence through late adulthood. If there’s one commonality my clients share, it’s that they’re seeking better coping strategies for life’s trials and transitions. I take an active listening approach during sessions, seeking to tune into clients’ strengths and challenges. I then provide targeted coping strategies and skills that clients can apply between sessions to cultivate change.
My goal is to provide clients with a timeout from everyday life, where they can be authentically themselves and work through unpleasant experiences and emotions in a judgment-free environment—gaining resilience and insights along the way. Drawing on my education and expertise in human development, I help clients recognize and move beyond unresolved experiences and emotions that left them vulnerable at critical stages of life.
Ultimately, my wish for clients is that they are free to bravely travel their life’s path and fully equipped to meet any obstacles along the way.
Penny Wilson
LCSW, EDM
As a licensed clinical social worker in Connecticut and New York, I combine my training in cognitive and behavioral therapy with other modalities—including DBT, ACT, Narrative Therapy, and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. By listening closely to clients’ unique experiences, I tailor our time together to not only resolve troubling patterns or symptoms, but help them reach a stronger understanding of themselves and their relationships.
I take a special interest in working with middle and high school students, along with adults of all ages. I support clients in managing a wide range of concerns including:
Anxiety disorders
Depression
Body image and self-esteem
Sports performance and motivation
Eating disorders
Family conflict
Grief and loss
Parenthood and other life transitions
ADD / ADHD
Trauma, past and current
Education & Credentials
I received a BA degree from Tufts University, then a Masters in Education in Adolescent Risk and Prevention from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Though the topic of risk prevention in youth was (and still is) a strong interest of mine, I wanted the opportunity to work more closely with youth and adults in a counseling setting. So I went on to receive a Master’s in Social Work degree from Simmons School of Social Work, with practicums at the MIT Counseling Center and The Germaine Lawrence School. I have also worked:
In college counseling at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Lehman College
With high school students at Manhattan Village Academy in New York
On the Child and Adolescent Transitional Care Unit at McLean Hospital
In outpatient therapy at the Jewish Board of Children and Family Services in New York, Jewish Family Services in Greenwich, and Aftercare Services in East Boston
Interested in working together?
We offer a free 15-minute consult!
