Louisa Triandis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in both California and Colorado with over 25 years of counseling experience working with families, adults, and children of all ages in agency, school, and private practice settings. She has extensive training and experience in Brainspotting, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic approaches, and Motivational Interviewing.
Louisa served as a School Social Worker at Torrey Pines High School, two middle schools, and several elementary schools. She was also an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Southern California and San Diego State University, where she taught courses in Social Work Practice, Human Development and Mental Health, School Social Work, and field education. She is the co-author of There’s Always Something Going Right: Workbook for Creating Truly Great Schools and contributed the article “Design and Implementation of Social Skills Groups” in the School Services Handbook, 2nd Edition.
A certificated school social worker since 1994, Louisa has supported teachers in both general and special education settings with classroom management and student success. She is also a Certified Nurtured Heart Approach® trainer, providing trainings for agencies, parents, and schools throughout California. In addition, she holds a certificate in Art Therapy.
Louisa provides counseling, coaching, training, and supervision in both English and Spanish. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, dancing, reading, skiing, and has raised two sons.
How I Work
I believe everyone has unique strengths to build on. While struggles are part of life, they don’t have to define who we are. By focusing on strengths and growing skills, we can face challenges with more confidence and resilience. My counseling style is rooted in the Nurtured Heart Approach, where we start by noticing what’s going well. This helps us uncover the tools you already have while also identifying what needs to shift.
To support growth and healing, I use Brainspotting and Art Therapy to process trauma, along with Motivational Interviewing, Problem-Solving Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Mindfulness techniques. When working with children and teens, I involve the whole family so everyone feels supported and on the same page. I offer services in both English and Spanish.
Some Things People Said About Me:
“Her experience in the field is evident as she simply “gets kids”. As both a School Social Worker and parent of two teenagers, she grasps the expectations and community culture in which she serves, including the struggles students at this age are facing.” – School Counselor “If it were not for you, I would be dead or in jail.”- Teen Client “Louisa, I am so thankful we found you and the nurtured heart approach! It truly is like we have the newer, sweeter version of our son. I also really feel good about myself. No feeling bad from focusing on the negative or raising my voice. I finally feel relief and hope.” – Parent “Louisa is the most approachable, kind and caring supervisor I’ve ever had. She really “meets you where you are” as a supervisee and provides constructive feedback so you can grow as a professional. Louisa is very knowledgeable and up-to-date on the best evidence based practices. She is amazing with career growth and will help you prepare for your licensing exam.”- Former ASW Intern, now an LCSW in private practice
Types of Challenges I help With
I have worked with all ages and all different types of challenges; depression, anxiety, eating disorders, grief and loss, domestic violence, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) , Bi-Polar Disorder, school struggles, social skill difficulties as well as various issues that arise from trauma. Life can be so tough at times and it’s my goal to help get you and/or your kids going in the right direction as quickly as possible.
College Preparation
Is the whole family panicking about preparing for college? Finding the right college is more about “fit” than what a “good school” is to your neighbors. I can help you with selecting the right school for YOU, as well as the anxiety and stress that comes from going through this difficult time. Many people focus only on getting into their dream school, without considering what they need to do to prepare to leave home. Under preparation for this monumental life style change results in far too many teens coming home within the first year, because they were simply not prepared for college life. I can help your teen sort through some of the different challenges they will face beyond doing their own laundry, so they are set up to be successful from the start.
Supervision
I have over 15 years of experience providing supervision. I have worked with students from San Diego State, the University of Southern California and Point Loma Nazarene University. I also supervise MFT and ASW interns who are working towards licensure.
http://.nurturedheartconsulting.com
What is The Nurtured Heart Approach?
All children need to be recognized for their greatness….however, challenging and intense children need this recognition even more than a typical child. Unfortunately, traditional parenting and teaching techniques can inadvertently cause challenging children to believe that they receive more attention and relationship when acting out rather than by “being good.” Over time, they come to believe that they are “bad” or “stupid” or “always in trouble.” Not surprisingly, these children often grow up to be adults that fail to live up to their potential. The techniques of the Nurtured Heart Approach™ turn this process upside down. Children and adults come to transform the way they think of themselves. They move from having a negative self concept (I am stupid, bad, a poor decision maker, always in trouble, etc.), to having a positive self concept (I am always good, even when I make mistakes, I am competent and make good decisions!). When this transformation occurs, children begin to achieve and exceed their potential, and their relationships with adults improve dramatically!
The Nurtured Heart Approach™ is a way of building relationships with people in ways that are transformative. Through use of the approach we develop strong characters, spirits and “high inner wealth”, or the sense of ourselves as people who are successful, happy and competent.
The approach has three main aspects, which must all be in place to truly work effectively:
- Pursuit of the Positive (focusing all of our energy, attention and relationship on things that are going right).
- No energy given to the negative (no energy or attention put into things that are going wrong).
- Strict Consequences (there is always a consequence for negative behavior).
Use of the Nurtured Heart Approach™ is beneficial to all kinds of children and relationships and has resulted in the following: “
- Reduction in the rate of referral to special education programs from 15% per year to as low as 2% per year.
- Exceptionally low utilization of medications for children with ADHD.
- Reduction in the rate of teacher attrition from 50% per year to under 5% per year.
- 50% reduction in the number of school discipline referrals in one year.
- Reduction in the recidivism rate for juvenile first time offenders from 50% to under 18%.
- Increase in ADA and student test scores
For more information on the Nurtured Heart Approach™, please visit Nurtured Heart Consulting Or the Children’s Success Foundation
Services:
- Individual, family and couples counseling
- Workshops for parents
- Workshops for school staff
Book
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