- Self Pay
Djola McGowan is a Nationally Board Certified Counselor, who received her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, at Messiah College shortly after graduating from Messiah with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. As a first-generation African American Woman who lived between two countries and two cultures, she identified early the nuances of how race, ethnicity, culture, and tradition directly affect how we perceive the world. This lived experience has revealed to her the deficit of comprehensive, culturally responsive mental health care in underserved communities. This passion drives her to be a servant-leader, responding to this unique issue through advocacy and providing care and resources.
While pursuing her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Djola bolstered her skills by directly engaging in the groundwork of identifying what communities need. She started her professional career as a Secondary Science Teacher and Special Education Teacher at Title 1 schools, where many students and families belonged to diverse, underserved communities.
After graduation, Djola served as a Family Based Therapist, serving Greater Philadelphia Families, supporting children and parents with grief, complex trauma, family structure/system concerns, reunification, ADHD, ODD, ASD, and DMDD. Djola continued this work in her role as a Contracted Therapist in Northeast Philadelphia, where she expanded her practice serving adults, LGBTQ+ concerns, couples, adolescents, and families. Djola’s experience is both diverse and expansive, culminating in the appropriate set of skills, disposition, and passion needed to be effective in mental health treatment.
As a clinician, Djola’s mission is to create an environment for clients that allow them to make connections between their social, emotional, and communal systems affecting their overall well-being. Additionally, allowing clients to identify how these factors create negative interaction cycles which keep them from their goals of wellness. Djola’s areas of expertise are trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, eco-systemic family therapy, and emotion-focused therapy. Djola views therapy as a collaborative process and looks forward to joining her clients to achieve their wellness goals.
