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to counselors
 The
gift of service is what Linda believes God has given
her as she has always had a desire to help people find
resolution to whatever challenges life presents. Being
raised in a Christian home, her first lesson taught
and consistently reinforced throughout her developing
years was The Golden Rule from Matthew 12:7, “Treat
others as you want them to treat you,” (Contemporary
English Version). It has been her adherence to this
foundational teaching that has served her well in the
many challenging experiences she has encountered throughout
her life, and acknowledges her reward as being able
to witness God being faithful to his Word.
Linda always knew that God’s
purpose for her life was to help people, and therefore
believes that God directed her path to secure a Bachelors
of Social Work degree from Bowie State College and a
Masters of Social Work degree from Howard University,
School of Social Work. She is convinced that her steps
have been orchestrated by God as for the next thirty
years as a clinical social worker, she would witness
the pain and suffering caused by individuals who did
not practice The Golden Rule and the negative effects
from those who did not love thy neighbor (others) as
they did not love themselves. It has been this pain
and suffering that she feels her journey has led her
to be a vessel used by God, allowing her, through knowledge
of God’s Word and guidance from the Holy Spirit,
to be able to make a difference in the lives of children,
adolescents, families, women, couples, trauma/abuse
victims, substance abusers and their families/significant
others and facilitate their healing.
God has led her down a path that has
consisted of working with children in DC Public Schools,
Department of Special Education; adults in Howard University’s
Outpatient Mental Health Clinic; adults within The Commission
on Mental Health at the Emergency Psychiatric Response
Division and males adjudicated not guilty by reason
of insanity within St. Elizabeths Hospital, Forensic
Inpatient Services, John Howard Pavilion; males ages
17 to 22 and women ages 18 to 62 within the Department
of Corrections, Correctional Treatment Facility; children,
families, and couples within the DC Superior Court,
Social Services Division, Family Branch; children, adolescents,
(some adjudicated) and families at the Potomac Ridge
Behavioral Health System, Adolescent Sex Offenders Program
and the Adolescent Girls Program; and children, adolescents,
biological and foster families within The Martin Pollak
Project, Inc., a therapeutic foster care, non-profit
agency located in the District and in Baltimore, Maryland.
She also opened her private practice for five years
providing psychotherapy and counseling services to children,
adolescents, young adults, and their families for Health
Services for Children with Special Needs, Maryland Health
Partners, and Essential Behavioral Services, Inc.
It is from this journey that she has
gained much experience in working with families and
their children with special educational, emotional,
and behavioral issues, and with children who have Attention
Deficit and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorders.
She also has experience in working with children and
adults with relational difficulties and those with mental
health issues, to include depression, with or without
the bipolar component, anxiety disorders, and those
with personality disorders such as those who has been
diagnosed with schizophrenia and borderline personalities.
Although Linda’s has worked
with children and families, adolescents, couples, females,
and engaged in group and family therapies, her specialty
is with children and adults suffering from trauma and
physical/sexual abuse. She has worked with not only
victims of physical and sexual abuse, but also with
the perpetrators. She has a passion not only for children,
who she believes are gifts from God, but also women,
who have been conditioned by society to care for others
at the sacrifice of caring and nurturing themselves.
It is through Linda’s commitment
to excellence, her life experiences, thirty years of
clinical experience, compassion, empathy, the application
of sound, practical, and eclectic therapeutic approaches,
and a God given desire to help others that Linda engages
others to achieve the essence of Ephesians 4:3-4, “Get
rid of bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander,
as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead,
be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you,”
(New Living Translation).
Linda is a member of the National
Association of Social Workers. She has been married
for 19 years and has raised a moderately mentally challenged
male, with autistic features, now age 29, and an 19
year old biological daughter, who brings much joy to
her life, and who attends Trinity University as a honors
freshman. Her hobbies include cooking, listening to
a variety of music genres, and being the best mother
and friend that she can be.
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