New counselor at JFS Orlando

JFS Orlando welcomes Ashlyn Douglas-Barnes, a licensed clinical social worker and qualified clinical supervisor, to the Counseling, Growth and Development Program as a clinical therapist supervisor. Douglas-Barnes has worked in a variety of settings including outpatient community based mental health, inpatient/admission psychiatric hospital, substance abuse/DUI, dialysis/medical, and in home/office outpatient therapy.

Douglas-Barnes specializes in adults and couples, with a range of concerns from anxiety, depression, substance abuse, trauma, chronic illness, and relationship issues with a focus on improving communication, self-esteem, and self-confidence. She is certified by Postpartum International for specialized care of perinatal mood disorders (postpartum depression). Douglas-Barnes is also certified to complete pre-surgical mental health clearance for bariatric surgery, as well as counseling before and after bariatric surgery for individuals and couples.

Her therapeutic orientation is cognitive behavioral, collaborative, client- centered and self-empowering. Douglas-Barnes's strengths lie in her unique ability to connect with people by the use of empathy, acceptance, and understanding, through active listening and genuine care for her clients.

"I practice a collaborative approach to counseling. I see those that I counsel as the experts of their own lives. I help them to identify for themselves what areas they feel they need to improve upon. We start with where the person is and where they want to go. I encourage exploration of the problem and help them find resources to better themselves and be self-sufficient. Therefore, it empowers them in the future when problems arise to find solutions independently and confidently."

"What I like about JFS Orlando is that it is a wrap-around agency. People come to us in crises, but it can be hard to receive treatment when an individual is facing life's difficulties. They don't have food on the table. They are facing homelessness. They've lost their job. JFS Orlando has services that can help. I'm a link for them to these other services."

Douglas-Barnes looks to her liberal childhood upbringing that shaped her as an individual and drew her to social work. She grew up north of Chicago in a culturally diverse neighborhood, listening to NPR and watching PBS. She says that being a middle child of five siblings shaped her to be a mediator, have independent thinking, and to be empathetic to the individuality of others. She was drawn to social work because she felt she had the ability to understand the viewpoint of others and had a desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

The Counseling, Growth and Development Program provides individual, couples, family and group mental health counseling in a trusting, reassuring and healing atmosphere. Licensed clinical therapists help clients cope with major life problems in a timely and effective manner and guide people through major life transitions. JFS is one of the few remaining agencies in Central Florida that operates on a sliding fee scale. JFS accepts most insurance. Call us at 407-644-7593 for more information or visit http://www.jfsorlando.org.