Your Partner in Healing Trauma and Managing Overwhelm: Irene Ilachinski, LCSW, TIRF-C

My Philosophy:

I believe that every person’s experience is their own. People need a safe space to speak of their struggles and be listened to without judgment. What you are going through and what led to you feeling and responding to the challenges in your life, are unique to you. I work to give you that space and not judge or make assumptions about you or your situation. As well, I keep in mind what YOUR goals are for therapy, rather than impose what I “think” those goals should be. Staying person-centered in this way is how we focus on you and what you are looking to work on. This is true even when we do more structured work together: The focus is always on you.

Before we begin:  It is important for a psychotherapist to be as objective as possible and I attempt to do that to the best of my ability.  However, basic  personal moral and ethical beliefs do affect that objectivity.  I believe that my work is based on the belief in a free democracy, on equal rights for all people, compassion for the disenfranchised, social justice, religious freedom or lack thereof, and freedom of speech, or of the press; and the right of the people peaceably to assemble.  Your moral and ethical beliefs may be very different than these beliefs and I support your right to have them. However, if your beliefs are very different than those above , I may be doing a disservice to you professionally to engage you in therapy, and I would be happy to refer you elsewhere. 

My Experience:

I am an experienced clinician and have worked with people navigating the challenges of life for many years.

I was drawn to do trauma work over the course of my practice. For years, I could see the effects of trauma on people and began to understand the mechanisms of it. But this was not enough to help people work through it in a way that got them out of feeling “stuck” with it. I began formal trauma training in the modality of TIR. I saw how effective it was on clients and on myself, so I became a Certified TIR Facilitator. I trained in two additional modalities: Somatic Experiencing and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Even when clients don’t identify “trauma” as being a reason for wanting treatment, they still reap positive benefits from aspects of these treatments.

At this stage of life, I have lived through the challenges of supporting aging parents, one with dementia. My previous work as a Social Worker in the Aging and Adult Services Department of a local DHS prepared me to navigate the challenges of this. Living it taught me even more.

In addition, my spouse and I are the parents of now-grown children. I appreciate how valuable all of our family relationships are, yet I know firsthand what it is to be in that “Sandwich Generation”, along with living your own life. The joys are there, but so are the challenges. I have learned how crucial it is to get support and have compassion for one’s self. Being independent does not mean doing things in isolation. We are all interdependent. That does not mean we should not have boundaries, or that we all experience things in the same way. Your experiences are different from mine, but I am committed to your healing.

• I earned my Masters in Social Work from the National Catholic School of Social Service.*

*In full disclosure, I am not Catholic. However, I will stay person-centered in our work and be sensitive to your particular belief system or lack thereof.

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychotherapist since 2006.

• Certified Traumatic Incident Reduction Facilitator in 2023.

Professional Affiliations:

Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work Member.

NASW Member.

Northern Virginia Professional Liaison Association Member.

Traumatic Incident Reduction Association: Member, Certified Facilitator since 2022.