Alexandra D. Contrafatto MS Ed, NCC, BSL, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor providing individual, marriage counseling, and family counseling services in Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh’s Wexford or North Hills location. As a Licensed Behavior Specialist, and a Nationally Certified Counselor who also is certified as a EAGALA Certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapist, Alexandra has a long standing history of using holistic therapy interventions to help clients and couples become well. If you are looking for a way to heal, Alexandra has experience working with many age ranges from children, to adolescents, and especially adults, families, and couples. She has experience in helping clients reduce the symptoms associated with depression and become completely symptom free, she has helped clients heal from the disabling effects of anxiety, she has helped clients heal and manage the life altering effects of PTSD, she has helped clients resolve and continue living after the effects of grief or loss. Other clients who Alexandra is especially able to help are those who are going through life adjustments or life transitions such as divorce, separation, having a child with a medical diagnosis, parenting and co-parenting, relational conflict and helping couples improve their intimacy and communication.
When entering therapy with Alexandra, you can expect to be understood, validated, and to learn the mechanisms of the cognitive behavioral therapy approach which is an action-oriented form of psychosocial therapy that believes that maladaptive thinking patterns cause maladaptive behavior and result in negative emotions. On the upside, by recognizing the maladaptive patterns, one is able to alter their associate behaviors leading to improved emotions. She teaches her clients to identify patterns in their thoughts and how they may be affecting their behaviors, emotions, and relationship and then helps them to enact the plan which will make appropriate adjustments that will positively impact their life and love. In addition to tradition psychotherapy, Alexandra is also certified in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). EAP is a type of holistic therapy that is done with horses, and it offers a hands-on approach, clients are given the space to project and analyze their situations, make new connections, and then find alternate and improved solutions to their problems while using the benefit of animal assisted therapy.
Alexandra graduated with her Master’s degree from the esteemed Duquesne University professional counseling program and then entered the private practice world after working in the social services. In her personal life, Alexandra is happily married and the proud mother of a two-year-old daughter. Her own cherished wellness plans of course includes a thorough enjoyment of horseback riding on trails or forests, traveling within the United States, and spending as much time as she can with her beloved family. If you feel that Alexandra might be a good fit, she would be happy to schedule an appointment with you at The Counseling and Wellness Center of Wexford and help you achieve a long-lasting sense of happiness and well-being.
Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh – Wexford
Located near Mccandless Crossing at 9401 McKnight Rd Suite 302, McKnight, PA 15237
Call us for an appointment 412-314-1909