Johanna Pavlogianis

LMFT

My path to becoming a therapist was far from linear. I like to think that it found me and I was opened up to a world that I had no idea existed. My original path was based in sciences and engineering, but little did I know that there was always a creative undertone, which is what brought me to art. I utilized art as a form of learning to communicate my emotions, which was not a common teaching in my childhood home. After college and a few years of having no direction or career, I learned about art therapy. It connected three fundamental things in my life, the yearning for helping people, building on my natural curiosity of the "how, what, and when", and allowing the freedom of expression. Since choosing psychology and integrating the art process, it felt like the pieces of my life's puzzle came together one after another. My own journey and overcoming hardships is what inspired me to follow my heart into this profession and I have never looked back.

My personal experiences influence so much of my work, because I believe in order to do this work, there needs to be a level of vulnerability to allow yourself to be in your client's shoes, and sometimes that may mean accessing a similar experience where those feelings were present. I think my cultural experience also leads in connecting to others with similar cultural backgrounds, and finding how to balance, both coming from a collective culture and being raised alongside an individualistic one. The balance of these complete opposites are essential within each other where we can feel support and guidance from others, while also being true and connected to ourselves. Spirituality plays a big role in my life and further strengthens the connection to self and those that came before. This framework is also a part of my work with clients, where they can find love and reassurance within themselves to then build that within their relationships.