Janel Guinane , LCSW

Janel Guinane began working in the helping professions in 1997 at a residential program in San Francisco, supporting adults with substance use challenges and co-occurring mental health disorders. Over time she pursued formal training, earning a Bachelor of Social Work in 2008 and a Master of Social Work in 2010, and has since worked across settings with children, teens, transition-age youth, former foster youth, homeless youth, adults with mental illness, homeless adults, and individuals arrested for alcohol or drug related offenses.

She currently serves as a Program Manager at a clinic that assesses people with mental health disorders for county treatment services and oversees a homeless day respite center that connects unhoused individuals with housing, food, and healthcare resources. Her clinical style is client-centered, strengths-based, and humanistic, and she integrates Motivational Interviewing to understand each personâs perspective and goals. Janel regards people as experts in their own lives and positions herself as a guide and collaborator, helping clients clarify priorities and move toward meaningful change.

Her experience includes working with depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, eating disorders, PTSD, and schizophrenia among other conditions. She aims to partner with clients around their goals rather than dispensing advice, offering authenticity and responsiveness to support growth and recovery. Janel holds an LCSW, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, reflecting her training and professional credentialing.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on meeting clients where they are, listening with empathy, and supporting each personâs own capacity for growth. This approach helps people who want a collaborative, nonjudgmental space to explore life challenges and discover personal solutions.

Motivational Interviewing is a conversational style that helps clarify a personâs reasons for change and builds internal motivation. It is often useful for issues like substance use, ambivalence about change, and strengthening commitment to goals.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, identifies unhelpful patterns in thoughts and behaviors and teaches practical skills to shift them. CBT can help with anxiety, depression, stress management, and developing coping strategies for everyday challenges.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Janel works collaboratively with clients and licensed professionals to determine which methods fit best given a personâs needs, goals, and preferences, and she adapts techniques as work progresses.

Online therapy offers flexibility by making sessions available through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options allow therapy to fit into busy schedules, reach people in different locations including international clients, and provide multiple ways to stay connected between sessions. For many clients, remote sessions make consistent progress more accessible and easier to maintain.