OCD & Behavior
Specialist
Serving Maryland, DC, Virginia and Ohio
8000 Locust Mill St, Ellicott City, 21043 | 210-810-3309 | leslieworley@wavesofwisdomtherapy.com
About
About Leslie, Owner of WOW
The relationship between you and your therapist is incredibly important for effectiveness in treatment. Whether this is your first time seeking a therapist or you’ve attempted multiple, it can be overwhelming to find the right person. Let’s see if I might be that person!
I believe therapy is a truly collaborative effort for healing, and as such, I seek to build an authentic and equal relationship with the person sitting across from me. I am passionate about helping people learn how to live by their values instead of letting emotions and intrusive thoughts control or overwhelm their lives.
My work focuses on targeting ineffective behaviors, habits, and core beliefs and changing them into effective ways of living by providing empathy, authenticity, and acceptance while also challenging current solutions to the problem or issue.
My overall model is: Accept – Expose – Defuse – Transform.
In my practice, I will never ask the person sitting across from me to do something I myself have not done. Meaning, I live my life by how I coach clients and don’t just use it as an “intervention.” I also use a lot of humor, direct, and transparent communication.
See “Individual Therapy” for more on what you might experience during a typical session.
Education
Leslie earned a Masters of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. She was honored and humbled to learn and work alongside innovative leaders in the clinical field at the Brown School of Social Work. This experience allowed her to never be settled in what she knew and to always learn and seek the cutting edge of treatment.
Experience
Starting her career in 2012, she has a decade of experience working with populations who have experienced extensive trauma. She has worked extensively with persons who self harm and experience eating disorders. Leslie was initially trained in traditional therapies such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Family Systems and Trauma Informed Therapies. She is a nationally certified trauma clinician through STARR.
Training
In 2018, she had the opportunity of a lifetime to be trained intensively in a cutting edge type of Dialectical Behavior Therapy called Contextually Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy. She has years of experience providing this type of therapy to clients within a formal, structured DBT program through an outpatient mental health clinic in Maryland. Leslie has personally transformed in her personal life and the way she engages in therapy with clients and is passionate about helping others experience their own transformation.
DBT
Continuity Focused
DBT was created by Dr. Paul Holmes, owner of the Emotion Management Program in Chicago, IL. More information here.
My Overall Model
ACCEPT
EXPOSE
DEFUSE
TRANSFORM
Waves of Wisdom Ethos
Trust
The relationship between you and your therapist is incredibly important for effectiveness in treatment. Whether this is your first time seeking a therapist or you’ve attempted multiple, it can be overwhelming to find the right person. Let’s see if I might be that person!
Authenticity
I believe therapy is a truly collaborative effort for healing and as such, i seek to build an authentic and equal relationship with the person sitting across from me. I am passionate about helping people learn how to live by their values instead of letting emotions and intrusive thoughts control or overwhelm their lives. My work focuses on targeting ineffective behaviors, habits, core beliefs and changing them into effective ways of living by providing empathy, authenticity, and acceptance while also challenging current solutions to the problem/issue. My overall model is: Accept-Exposure-Defuse-Transform
Directness
In my practice, I will never ask the person sitting across from me to do something I myself have not done. Meaning, I live my life by how I coach clients and don’t just use it as an “intervention.” I also use a lot of humor, direct and transparent communication.
Therapists
Coming soon...