Rate Yolande McVey

Counseling is more than my passion; it is my calling and my gift.

Having studied Social Science as a undergraduate I immediately began a master’s program in Community Counseling at National-Louis University in Chicago. My internship at two major hospitals gave me greater insight and training needed to remediate and treat mental health challenges and conditions. Both group and individual counseling allowed me to be effective and feel a great sense of efficacy as a mental healthcare advocate and provider.

I have experience treating both adults and adolescents: group and individual therapy in private and community settings. My work history is fortunately varied and provided me with a plethora of mental health experiences that have fed and nurtured my professional growth. Working in positions from corrections, to hospital emergency rooms, to mobile crisis and as a director of a large detention center’s mental health department have given me a broader insight into diagnosis and assessment as well as treatment modalities.

I tend to use a blended combination of modalities depending upon the presenting circumstance; however, I tend to utilize solution focused CBT and Reality Therapy most in my work. Motivational interviewing is also useful in assisting clients in identifying impediments to care and isolating critical factors in treatment. Having grown up in Metropolitan Chicago, later living in Arizona and now in in the South, I have a more peripheral understanding of culture beyond race, gender, and other generally regarded areas. I also understand geographic customs and traditions more.

My other interests and certifications have been in areas of military life, PTSD, domestic violence (perpetrator and victim counseling), depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, substance abuse, parenting, relationship counseling, bereavement counseling, adjustment counseling, as well as severe and persistent conditions.

My career more than a job – it is the core of who I am.