Cara Gruhala, EdS, LPC, NCC, PMH-C

Cara received her Master's and Education Specialist degrees in counseling from the University of Central Missouri. Prior to working in a private setting, Cara worked as a certified Missouri School Counselor, and also currently teaches graduate level counseling courses. She sees clients across the lifespan, as young as age 4, and specializes in the areas of anxiety, trauma, body image, perinatal (pre-conception through postpartum), LGBTQIA+ identity, and neurodivergence, particularly Autism/ADHD/giftedness and learning differences. Cara utilizes a blend of approaches, tailored to fit each client's need. Cara is trained from a person-centered perspective, where client and counselor partner to reach the client's goals. In this mindset the counselor treats each client as the expert on their own life and believes that partnering can help the client discover solutions they already possess. The relationship between counselor and client is key, and Cara strives to create trusting, safe, non-judgemental, and compassionate relationships with all her clients in order for them to reach their highest potential. Person-centered therapy involves mostly talk, with the counselor in the primary role of listener and reflector. Cara also utilizes a variety of other therapeutic approaches, including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), humanistic, and Play Therapy, depending on each client's needs and strengths. Cara is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Missouri, as well as a board approved clinical supervisor for Missouri licensure, and loves working with new to the field clinicians. Cara is licensed in Missouri and sees clients in the office, as well as on telehealth using video and audio from the client's location. Due to current licensure regulations clients must be physically located in Missouri at the time of service to take part in telehealth sessions. 

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