Senior Mental Health Clinician
Colleen Farris, MS, LPC, LMHC
Colleen received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from University of Buffalo and her Masters of Science degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Niagara University. She received certification as a Dialectical Behavioral Therapist, an approach that focuses on mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation, four core areas that impact an individual’s ability to live a life with reduced emotional pain and increased ability to live in the present moment, within the self and with relationships with others.
Her professional experience has included a variety of mental health treatment settings such as an eating disorder center, non-profit outpatient agencies and private practice, domestic violence/criminal court with mandated counseling and group facilitation, and anger management. In 2014 and 2018 she received recognition certificates in areas of chemical dependency and suicide prevention, and recently has been certified as a clinical service provider for ADHD/ADD.
Colleen’s therapeutic foundation is existential, centered on finding the meaning and value of life at any stage, to offer acceptance and validation while working side by side with you on your journey through the counseling process, while continuing to maintain a trusted and valued therapeutic relationship.
Her focus is to provide holistic, culturally sensitive, and personalized counseling in a non-judgmental, supportive environment, assisting individuals on their counseling journey towards attaining personal growth and happiness in life. Having observed her maternal grandmother with assisting individuals in the community with a genuine, faith-filled, and altruistic heart provided Colleen a strong foundation to serve as a lantern bearer, helping others navigate emotional pain and life’s challenges to gain, regain the happiness in life that every individual deserves.
Counseling Approach
Modalities practiced.
Counseling Services
- Individual Counseling
Age Groups
- Adults (Ages 18 and over)
- Elder Adults (Ages 65 and over)
Insurance & Payment
- Aetna
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Cigna Behavioral Health
- Curative EAP
- Medicare
- Molina
- Most Major EAPs
- Scott & White Health Plan
- Tricare
- Triwest
- United/Optum
Areas of Focus
Specialty focus
- ADHD
- Anxiety (Veteran-specific)
- Depression (Veteran-specific)
- Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues
- Infertility and Reproductive Loss
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Pregnancy Loss
- PTSD (Veteran-specific)
- Veterans Counseling
General areas of focus
- Anger Management
- Anxiety
- Behavioral Concerns
- Career Counseling
- Coping Skills
- Depression
- Emotional Disturbance
- Grief and Loss Recovery
- Healthy Communication Skills
- Identity Development
- Life Transitions
- Mood Disorders
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Self-Esteem
- Stress Management
- Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm
- Trauma Recovery
