My approach
Therapy that meets you where you are
Welcome. I'm Kenisha, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, school-based special needs counselor, and the founder of Alera Counseling Services. I work with high-functioning women who are exhausted from holding everything together, and parents of children with special needs or medical diagnoses who have spent so long advocating for their child that they've lost sight of themselves.
What makes my work different: I don't just understand this world clinically — I live and work inside it. As a school-based counselor for students with special needs, I sit in the IEP meetings, navigate the systems, and see firsthand what families carry. When you come to me, you don't have to explain yourself. I already get it.
My approach is warm, honest, and practical. We won't just talk about your feelings — we'll work through them and build real tools that show up in your everyday life. Using CBT, trauma-informed care, and strength-based therapy, my goal is to help you move from surviving to actually feeling like yourself again.
"Healing doesn't look the same for everyone. My job is to help you find what it looks like for you."
The heart behind Alera
A therapist shaped by real life
Before I became a therapist, I was a military spouse — and that chapter taught me things no textbook could. That background, combined with my years working directly with special needs students and their families in school settings, shaped the kind of therapist I am — someone who meets people in the middle of real, complicated life, not just in a clinical world. I learned what it means to adapt under pressure, to hold a family together through uncertainty, and to find strength in seasons that don't make sense yet.
I'm also a parent. I understand the particular weight of raising a child with special needs — the advocacy, the exhaustion, the moments of fierce pride, and the guilt of needing a break. That lived experience shapes the way I show up for the families I work with.
On my days off, I'm usually recharging with family, trying a new restaurant, or simply doing nothing — and I mean that sincerely. Rest is something I believe in deeply, for my clients and for myself.
Empowerment
You have more strength than you think. We find it together.
Compassion
No judgment, ever. Just genuine care for where you are right now.
Authenticity
Real conversations. No scripted answers or one-size-fits-all plans.