Tonya Pleasant

Tonya Pleasant is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who helps people navigate stress, anxiety, career shifts, parenting strain, and relationship concerns. She writes and talks plainly, aiming to make therapy practical and usable. Her approach centers on building skills and using personal strengths to meet real goals. With 25 years of experience, she focuses on making change feel doable. Sessions include clear coping strategies, attention to thinking patterns, and steps for behavior change. Tonya listens, notices what already works for each person, and suggests tools to try between visits. Her training and background include a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Maryland, College Park. She also studied family therapy and community development at the bachelor's level. Tonya’s long career has included many settings and types of work in mental health across Maryland and nearby areas. Tonya often uses approaches that help people notice their thoughts, choose actions that match their values, and practice skills that reduce distress. She encourages clients to track small wins and adapt strategies to daily life. Progress is framed around concrete goals rather than vague ideas of change. People who come to her for career concerns, caregiving stress, grief, or life transitions can expect straightforward feedback and homework that fits their schedule. She also supports work on self-esteem, forgiveness, seasonal mood shifts, and intimacy-related questions. Sessions aim to leave people with one or two things to try before the next meeting.

How therapy approaches translate to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and practicing small steps that match those values. It can help with anxiety, low motivation, and major life decisions by grounding action in what the client cares about. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and test them with real-life experiments. It is useful for stress, depression, sleep and eating problems, and for changing behaviors that get in the way of goals. Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, preferences, and daily routines, and together they’ll decide which methods to try first. That plan can change as progress is tracked and new needs emerge. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. They may reduce travel time, allow shorter check-ins during a break, or remove the need to be on camera when bandwidth is limited. Confirm the available session formats before booking so the chosen arrangement matches scheduling needs and personal comfort.