About Iwona Florianowicz

Iwona Florianowicz, LCPC (Illinois)., LPC-T (Arizona)., CCTP-II, is the founder and a clinical director at Compassionate Healing Psychotherapy. Iwona specializes in trauma, holding certification as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II) and a Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician (NATC).

Iwona maintains her private practice, providing psychotherapy, life coaching and professional consultation to individuals, couples, and professionals. With over a decade experience in trauma work, she holds special interest in helping survivors of childhood trauma, attachment trauma, developmental trauma, and relational trauma such as narcissistic abuse/antagonistic relational stress. Her focus is on helping survivors of various traumas build resilience, feel safe, and develop trust in themselves and others, as well as create more fulfilling relationships in their life. Iwona tailors trauma treatment, in collaboration, to fit client’s unique needs and experiences, drawing from her extensive knowledge, experience and training in areas of complex trauma, personality styles, and co-occurring mental health issues including ADHD, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorders, Somatic Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Anxiety, Depression. Additional issues Iwona works with include social, racial, cultural, and work-related trauma, women’s issues, health anxiety/trauma, addictions, and those related to immigration and acculturation.

Iwona’s clinical approach is primarily relational and person-centered, with the focus on creating holistic and meaningful therapeutic experience, integrating innovative evidence-based interventions such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Polyvagal Theory, Neuropsychology, Somatic work, Strength and Resilience-based Therapy, breath work, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), to ensure long-lasting and highly effective treatment.

Iwona is committed to providing culturally sensitive and inclusive care for all her clients, free of discrimination, stigma, and judgment. Her focus is to create safe, compassionate, and none-judgmental space where clients can explore and process their experiences, thought and emotions. She helps clients to cultivate a greater sense of safety, trust, and empowerment while developing a healthy sense of self, others, and the world, building life-long healthy coping skills and tools to navigate challenges or distress with greater ease and resilience. Iwona brings integrity to her work and is highly adoptive and adept at providing trauma-informed care creating stability, consistency, and connections for her clients. Clients working with Iwona, are moving beyond trauma towards more positive, joyful, and fulfilling future.

Iwona feels very privileged and honored when embarking on unique healing journey with her clients. She provides free initial consultation to answer any questions client might have. She believes that the healing process starts from initial consultation to determine if both therapist and the client are the good fit in working together and continues through forming trusting relationship.  

PERSONAL LIFE AND INTERESTS

Iwona is a Polish immigrant, who came to the U.S. as a teenager to reunite with her family. She is married with two adult daughters, and lives with her husband, dog named Haku (white Labrador), and cat name Akira (Bengal). Iwona loves traveling and enjoys good food, music, and learning about new cultures. Iwona loves connecting with the nature, hence, recently moved to Arizona. In her free time, Iwona loves long hiking trips, reading interesting book, drawing, and connecting with friends, family, and new people. Her favorite TV series include Criminal Minds, CSI Las Vegas, and Supernatural.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Iwona Florianowicz has over 13 years of experience as a psychotherapist, having worked in diverse setting including privately owned and operated practices, community mental health centers, emergency department, and state organizations in different countries. As a bilingual professional, English and Polish, she has provided therapy to adolescence and adults, couples and individuals from multiple cultural and ethnic backgrounds, in the U.K, Canada, and the U.S.

Her work experience includes working with complex issues, such as childhood trauma and early attachment wounds, with the focus on the impact on adult relationships and mental health. Iwona volunteered at a women’s center, offering support to women who experienced traumatic loses, provided psychotherapy to victims of violent crime and survivors of motor vehicle accidents, worked with first responders, and adult children of emotionally immature parents, as well as with survivors of betrayal trauma and those who are in narcissistic/antagonistic relationships. Iwona continue developing knowledge and expertise around the fallout of childhood trauma on adulthood and intimate relationships, and adult relational trauma/abuse. Drawing from her extensive experiences across various cultures and settings she tailors her approach to best support clients’ needs.  

EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

·       Master-Level Credits in Counseling, Governors State University, Chicago, IL

·       MSc (Master of Science), Counseling and Psychotherapy, University of Salford, U.K.

·       BSc (Honours), Counseling and Psychology, University of Bolton, U.K.

·       Access to Higher Education, Psychology and Social Studies, University of Bolton, U.K.

·       Dissertation Entitled: “Psychological Effects of Working with Traumatized Clients: Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction in Counselors and Psychotherapists -A Systematic Review”.

·       Conducted Honour Project in Social and Developmental Psychology: “Does Bibliotherapy Change Children’s Empathic Attitudes Towards Bullying in Elementary School?”

                  ADVANCED CLINICAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS 

Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies - 2024

• Trauma Research Foundation – (7 months post-graduate studies, led by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a leading trauma expert).

Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician (NATC) Training - 2024

• Thought by Dr. Ramani Durvasula, renowned author and narcissism expert.

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II) -2023

• Complex PTSD Clinical Workshop: A comprehensive Approach to Accurately Assess and Effectively Treat Clients with Chronic, Repetitive and/or Developmental Trauma, Thought by Dr. Arielle Schwartz.

• EMDR and Parts Work for Treating Complex Trauma: Somatic Techniques to Decrease Defensiveness and Facilitate Trauma Processing, Thought by Dr. Arielle Schwartz.

• The Key Behind How Cognitive Processing Therapy Heals PTSD, Thought by Dr. Kathleen M Chard.

• A Therapist’s Guide to the Psychopharmacology of Trauma and Dissociation, Thought by Dr. Frank Anderson.

• Advances in Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation, Thought by Kathy Steele MN, CS Psychotherapist/Consultant.

EMDRIA Training - 2023

• EMDR Treatment of Complex PTSD: Lessons Learned Over Three Decades.

EMDR Training - 2020

• Completed 6 months, two-part basic training, in-person, in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) by EMDRIA, Rosemont, IL

Internal Family Systems (IFS) training - 2021

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) - 2018

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Ontario, Canada - 2017

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), Ontario, Canada - 2017

• Certification obtained via International Association of Trauma Professional (IATP)

OACCPP 39TH Annual Conference, Ontario, Canada - 2016

Mindfulness for Professionals: Professional Training in the Use of Mindfulness - 2014

• Training competed via three full days intense, 21 hours workshop thought by the British Mindfulness Institute.

Certified in Counseling Concept: ABC Level 2 - 2010

  PROFESSIONAL LICENSES

LCPC – Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor – Illinois, U.S. - active

LPC – T – Licensed Professional Counselor (Temporary) – Arizona, U.S. - active

RPQ – Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) – Ontario, Canada. – inactive

RP – Registered Psychotherapist – U.K. inactive

    PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Current:

ACA – American Counseling Association – since 2018

EMDRIA - EMDR International Association – Since 2020

IATP – International Association of Trauma Professionals – since 2017

Past:

OACCPP – Ontario Association of Consultants, Counselors, Psychometrists, and Psychotherapist – inactive since 2019

APA – American Psychological Association – from 2009 – 2019

BACP – British Association for Counselors and Psychotherapists – from 2009 - 2016