India Gardner, MA, LPC

I am glad you found me and I look forward to collaborating with you during your therapy journey to healing and restoration, one conversation at a time.

I'm India! I am the owner and Therapist (Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) at Couch Conversations & Consulting,

I enjoy working with teens, adults, and couples!

Several years ago, I sustained a traumatic brain injury that rendered me with multiple acquired invisible disabilities. My own experience with therapy to helped me adjust to the new normal and during my experience I discovered new facets of myself that enriched my life's tapestry and gave me the fortitude to push forward to obtain my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, become a therapist and pay forward the healing and restoration that I received in therapy to my therapy clients.

Trauma can be a scary wilderness because it shakes you to the core of who you are. Therapy showed me that fear can be utilized as a powerful catalyst to motivate and elevate you to the next phase of your life. Most importantly, I learned I would not let the fear from my trauma determine my future nor hold me back from achieving my life’s goals. Instead, I learned to use it as fuel and was able to overcome my fears and the trauma. I hope to demonstrate to my clients, that they too can gradually overcome trauma, one conversation at a time.

I aim for my work as a therapist to be living proof of the benefits and enrichment that therapy can be for one’s overall mental health. I am drawn to holistic approaches which allow me to consider the entirety of the client (biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural facets) to understand the world from their perspective while respecting their uniqueness as a human. In short, I like to meet clients where they are when they come to therapy, and I like to tailor the therapy to fit their uniqueness.

From my perspective, the client is the expert in their lives and I, as the therapist, am a collaborator responsible for fostering empathy, respect, compassion and curiosity. I view the counseling relationship as more of a working collaboration with clients to address their reason(s) for coming to therapy.

My therapeutic style consists of a blend of ingredients that are direct, collaborative, relaxed, relatable and compassionate, peppered with a dose of humor. My therapeutic approach utilizes a strong foundation of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) Dialectical Behavioral Therapy(DBT), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Narrative, Existential and Solution Focused modalities, enhanced with trauma informed care, developmental psychology and motivational interviewing.

Additionally, I have a deeply vested interest in encouraging more BIPOC clients to seek therapy and to view therapy as a safe and empowering space where one feels heard, valued and free to express and celebrate one's uniqueness and authenticity.

My motto is “do something you can be proud of each day.” I hope to inspire this same enthusiasm in my clients. If I can help at least one person embrace uncertainty while creating a meaningful, authentic life, then I have made a difference in the world, and fulfilled the Couch Conversations and Consulting mission, one conversation at a time.