Barbara Prosniewski, PhD

I am a licensed psychologist with an office in Santa Rosa, California. I also serve clients over telehealth.

I see individuals, children and families with a focus of what is most beneficial right now. I am also available to do psychological evaluations to help determine treatment goals.

Types of Therapy Provided

I have an eclectic approach depending on the needs of the client(s) using any combination of the following:

• Trauma Based Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, including now AF-CBT (Alternate for Families-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
• Behavior Modification
• Play Therapy
• Functional Family Therapy
• Systematic Desensitization
• Relaxation Techniques, Mindfulness

I see both children and adults, either individually, as a couple or as a family. I also do psychological evaluations and supervise interns.

General Approach

I have been working with children and parents and individuals for many years. My approach to therapy is one of respect, compassion and a bit of tough love when it is needed. You need to feel that I am genuinely trying to help you and care for you. I try to normalize, as much as possible, the emotional circumstances under which you are coming to therapy. None of us are perfect. None of us have come through life unscathed. We also have certain strengths. We have all made mistakes. We have all become stuck in our thinking and with our feelings. Often communication breaks down. Here is where we learn different strategies and, as a result, become stronger, more capable and more fulfilled. I do also like to bring some humor into our sessions, when appropriate, as laughter is good for the soul and does help us gain a different perspective on the situation and ourselves.

Cultural Competency

I am white as can be seen from my photo. English, though, is my second language, having learned it when I started school. My experience as a child of immigrant parents (victims of WWII Poland) has taught me a great deal about the challenges that parents from other countries face not only dealing with their own trauma but also adapting to a different society. In addition, I bring an awareness of the different rates of adaptation of the children and the parents and those consequent issues.

In addition, I very much enjoy working with those of you whose heritage and background is different from mine. We are all people deserving of respect, validation and compassion and hopefully can learn from each other.

Treatment Planning

Treatment planning is used as a way to make sure that what is being worked in therapy is what you feel that you need and what would be the most helpful, which can change over time. To this end, discussion about your goals is a vital part of developing useful treatment. I also like to add as part of these goals a time to reflect on what brings joy, peace and silliness/laughter sometimes into one’s life.