Joan Romaine, LGPC

Practicing Since 2018

Life can be hard to navigate and sometimes we need guidance and help from someone who understands what we are experiencing. This holds true for Joan Romaine. As a counselor, Joan sees the counseling room as a sacred space in which she is honored to accompany clients and hold a safe space for them to fully express their thoughts and feelings without judgement. She understands mental illness not only from her clinical training but from lived experience. She strongly believes that counseling works, and can be life-giving, life-saving, and transformational.

Joan is enthusiastic about breaking down the stigma of mental illness and empowering her clients because she believes each person has what they need already inside of them. However, she realizes that sometimes things happen in life and people experience things that can rob them of their trust, joy, confidence, sleep, and their motivation to keep going. It is her honor to hold out hope for her clients and co-journey with them until they are able to hold it out for themselves.

To better understand what mental illness is and what it is not, Joan believes psychoeducation on mental illness(es) is important for the client, their loved ones, and communities. It can help to manage symptoms, promote wellness, and break down the stigma of mental illness.

In Joan’s training as a pastoral counselor in clinical mental health counseling, she believes that assessing a client’s spiritual and religious beliefs and practices is an important part of cura personalis, or care for the whole person. This approach is client centered and care is taken to provide the best evidence-based and culturally appropriate practices and treatments. She uses a variety of treatment modalities for counseling but is fond of an eclectic approach to counseling, which means she may use different treatment modalities as needed. This can include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and solution-focused therapy (SFT) to name a few.

In addition, Joan likes to use a variety of techniques and teach clients coping strategies, so they are empowered to take what is learned in the counseling session and apply it in their everyday lives.

Joan has a BA in Psychology, an MPH in Public Health, and an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), American Counseling Association (ACA) Member, ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education Member, and a Chi Sigma Iota (Counseling Academic & Professional Honor Society International) member.

If you are ready to take the next steps on your healing journey, then Joan is the right counselor for you. She aims to create a warm, caring, and trusting environment where clients feel accepted, respected, and safe to share their story, their challenges, and struggles. As well as their hopes and desires for themselves and their lives.

Joan is married in a blended family. She has an adorable, fifteen-year-old Bichon Frise who is the queen of the house! She likes to spend time with her husband and their family and friends. She also loves to travel, try new foods, garden, and do a variety of arts and crafts. Joan is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and served in Africa for over two years working on HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Joan has also served as a VISTA Volunteer and AmeriCorps Volunteer in Arizona.

Joan is licensed in the state of MD (License # LGP10872) under the clinical supervision of Patricia Itzel, LCSW-C (License (MD #13811)