About the Owner of MFTS
Danielle Blessing Taylor LMFT
About
I am the owner and founder of Marriage and Family Therapy Services (MFTS) which is a successful group practice made up of awesome therapists, providing therapy to those in the DC+ area. I treat my practice like a family and value each therapist's unique style. I am lucky to have such a great team of compassionate and warm providers.
I started my practice because I was working independently and missed the collaboration, comradery and community of being part of a team. I received so many inquiries from potential clients and I couldn't help them all. I wanted to serve more people instead of turning them away. I also wanted to allow therapists to just focus on clients, while all the admin work is taken care of for them. With these goals in mind I created a practice from the ground up and now I also provide consultations to other practitioners who want to start practices or just need support.
Ethical guidelines, state laws and confidentiality are really important in the work that we do. We treat our clients as people and not just a number, by communicating effectively and directly.
MFTS has received such positive feedback on the client experience as it is reportedly with fast response time and feeling not like a number. MFTS's referral base continues to grow.
As a clinician, since 2010 I have worked with individuals and their family members to create healthy relationships. I look at each person as an individual and in their relationships. I explore past experiences that have shaped the way each thinks and acts to help create empathy and understanding for themselves and those who have hurt them in the past.
I believe that helping family members learn about each other's past and why they behave and speak the way that they do helps to resolve and reduce conflicts. This in turn helps to lower walls of defense and take things less personally once we know where reactions such as anger, aggression and blame are really coming from. It is very healing to feel understood, heard and accepted.
I look at patterns in the family, culture, environment and more. Recognizing unhealthy habits and the effects they have on our lives helps to foster change, break patterns and set healthy boundaries.
I enjoy including as many loved ones in therapy as needed in order to gain perspectives, but also to provide support in having hard conversations.
I see a wide variety of clients and if you give me a call I would love to explore if I have experience in what you are looking to work on.
My Approach and General Philosophy
I am genuinely interested in getting to know what makes people who they are, and my work honestly does not seem like a job. I feel honored to be trusted to help others.
Over the years I have developed an approach that I find helpful and effective for clients to achieve their goals. I use parts of many psychological theories as I tailor to my client’s needs.
I believe that working through and healing our own "stuff" helps us to be able to give to ourselves and in our relationships. Gaining this insight helps with self-happiness and assists in making healthy life decisions.
My style as a therapist can be described as upfront, patient and warm. Listening without judgement allows those I work with to be open and comfortable. I have provided therapy to various relationship dynamics, cultures and sexual orientations. I enjoy continually learning from each unique story that I hear.
Meeting people where they are in their change process is very important to me. Talking about or through difficult times can be very sensitive and requires respect, patience and time. I gently challenge thought processes to motivate change by providing objective and rational perspectives.
In my experience, the best outcomes are with those who are committed to the therapy process and who are ready to put the necessary work and attention into their goals. Many of my clients report that our work together results in them feeling more positive and confident, knowing themselves more than they ever have before.
My Experience and Qualifications
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in DC, MD, VA, PA and FL, and I work with individuals, families and couples.
I have been working in the mental health field since 2009 in various settings including schools, residential facilities, homes, outpatient community mental health and private group practice. I have been a therapist since 2010 and have worked with children and adults of all ages.
My Master's Degree is in Clinical Counseling Psychology, with a focus in Marriage and Family Therapy.
To keep up with my multi-state licenses and to continually build my clinical knowledge base, I partake in various training's to learn new techniques that I can use with my clients.
I provide practical tools/resources along our journey together to help people to cope with difficulties and to communicate in healthy effective ways.
In my work I have found it very helpful to collaborate with other providers in my client's life as needed such as PCPs, psychiatrists and therapists. This helps to create overall health.
Outside of providing therapy and managing my ever growing group practice, I run consultation groups for fellow therapists and group practice owners, to continue my professional development and to gain/give support as clinicians and practice owners. I also provider supervision to clinicians and am an Approved Supervisor for LGPC's in the state of Maryland.
States
Sees clients virtually in DC, MD, PA, VA and FL.
Typical Office Hours
Monday-Friday 10am-4pm (varies)
