Sarina Van Zyl, LMHC

**Hello**!

My name is Sarina Van Zyl (she/her), and I am a licensed mental health counselor in the state of Massachusetts. I earned my BA in Psychology from Skidmore College, and my MA from Lesley University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy. I have over 8 years experience working in community mental health, and outpatient therapy settings.
I place **compassion**, humility, creativity and connection at the core of my work with my clients. My experience encompasses working with young children, adolescents, teens, adults, older adults, LGBTQ+ individuals, couples and families with symptoms of anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, burnout, compassion fatigue, PTSD, mood disorders, challenges with interpersonal relationships, low self-esteem, family conflict, and life transitions. I also welcome working with new mothers navigating life postpartum, and clients seeking a deeper connection to themselves through nature.
I look forward to harnessing your strengths together, and hope to provide you a safe space and soft landing to work collaboratively on your therapeutic goals. Whether this is a new or continued **journey**, I welcome the opportunity of supporting you in achieving a more aware, integrated, resilient, balanced, and **healed** sense of self.

The name Mossy Stone Counseling & Wellness, LLC was inspired by my love of nature, travels, earthy, lush, green landscapes and the droplets of dew that collect in the early morning on mossy stones in my backyard. I love the imagery and juxtaposition of something soft and full of life collecting and growing on something hard and steady. Moss retains water, thus helping to provide a soft landing for rainfall, and enabling other plants around them to thrive. Moss is drawn to objects that remain still, present and grounded. Moss, while appearing to be soft, is much tougher than it looks, existing in many different climates, thriving in both light and dark, and dating back to 450 million years ago. Moss symbolizes patience, experience and persistence, many of the qualities I embrace in my work as a therapist.