Mental Health Services
Mental Health Services
Specialized Mental Health Support for Your Entire Family
Emotional well-being is the cornerstone of a happy, fulfilling life. Because supporting a child’s mental health means supporting the entire ecosystem around them, Partners in Learning offers specialized, compassionate counseling designed to meet the unique needs of your family from infancy through adulthood.
The Power of Early Intervention: Nurturing Healthy Minds from the Start
Just like physical health, proactively nurturing mental well-being prevents small challenges from becoming large obstacles. Early support builds a strong foundation of resilience, emotional regulation, and healthy coping skills—positively impacting a child’s relationships, school experience, and overall confidence.
Our Counseling Programs
Our clinically backed therapeutic approaches are tailored specifically to match your child’s developmental stage:
Infancy & Toddlers (Under Age 2) | Theraplay
For our youngest clients, healing and security happen through relationship building. We utilize Theraplay, a practitioner-guided framework that focuses on attachment, self-esteem, and trust. Through playful, nurturing, and structured interactions, we help strengthen the vital bond between you and your baby.
Children (Ages 2 – 12) | Play Therapy
For children, play is their natural language. Our specialized child therapists use research-based Play Therapy to help children express complex feelings, process difficult experiences, and learn new skills in a space that feels safe and natural. In the playroom, children gently navigate challenges like anxiety, behavioral issues, trauma, or family transitions.
Teens, Young Adults & Adults (Ages 13+) | CBT & DBT
The journey from adolescence to adulthood is filled with unique pressures. We provide a confidential, supportive space using two highly effective, evidence-based frameworks to help individuals thrive:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Our therapists partner with clients to identify unhelpful or negative thought patterns, identify unhelpful thought patterns and build practical coping strategies and build actionable coping strategies to manage anxiety, depression, and daily stressors.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT is a specialized form of counseling designed for individuals who experience very intense, overwhelming emotions. It focuses on balance—accepting where you are while actively working to change harmful habits. DBT teaches practical skills for distress tolerance (getting through a crisis without making it worse), emotional regulation, mindfulness, and healthy relationship boundaries.
On-Site School-Based Counseling | CBT & DBT Delivery
We understand that families have packed schedules, and transportation or work hours can make office visits difficult. To ensure continuous, convenient care, our therapists travel directly to your child to provide professional mental health counseling in the school setting.
- Schools We Serve: This traveling service is available to students enrolled in Rowan-Salisbury Schools (public), as well as private schools and charter schools across Rowan County.
- Our Approach in Schools: In the school setting, we primarily utilize CBT and DBT to address academic anxiety, social stress, and behavioral difficulties. By introducing CBT, we help students manage performance anxiety and negative self-talk. Through DBT, we equip students with immediate, on-the-spot skills to regulate overwhelming emotions, tolerate school-day frustrations, and navigate classroom peer dynamics without disrupting their learning environment.
- For Students under the age of 12, we will consult with the school and caregivers to see if Play Therapy would be more appropriate and will send a provider if available.
Partners CARES
High-Quality, Affordable Mental Health Support
We believe financial constraints should never stand in the way of your family’s healing. Partners CARES is our community-focused counseling initiative designed to make professional mental health support accessible to everyone.
- The “Double-Layer” Care Model: Through this program, services are provided by advanced clinical interns who are directly guided, backed, and supervised by our senior licensed clinicians. Your family benefits from the dedicated focus of an emerging professional alongside the deep expertise of a veteran therapist.
- Affordable Rates: Sessions start at just $20.00.
- Flexible Delivery: We offer both in-person and virtual (telehealth) appointments to fit your busy schedule.
- Specialized Focus: Partners CARES is open to children, teens, and adults navigating anxiety, major life transitions, changing family dynamics, or the unique day-to-day stressors associated with special needs parenting.
Caregiver & Educator Training Cohorts
True early intervention requires equipping the adults who guide our children every day. We proudly host two structured cohorts per yearfor each of our evidence-based training programs:
Child–Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT): A 10-session programmatic training model that teaches parents how to use play therapy principles at home to deeply walk through behavioral issues, reduce stress, and strengthen the parent-child bond.
Child–Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT): A specialized professional development track that equips educators with relational skills to manage classroom behaviors, support trauma-impacted students, and foster an optimal learning environment.
Your family’s mental health is our priority.
Let us partner with you to heal, grow, and build a stronger future, together.
Jenya Comfort, LCMHC, NCC
We are so glad that you are here and exploring counseling options for your child! When a child is facing challenges, it can impact the whole family—and that is why Jenya is here to support both your child and you throughout the process. Jenya provides individual play therapy for children, a developmentally appropriate approach to help them express themselves through play, their natural language, as well as offers parenting support to guide families through this journey together.
Jenya is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHC) with a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from UNC Charlotte, along with a graduate certificate in play therapy. She is currently working toward becoming a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) and has also completed training in an EMDRIA-approved basic Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which is trauma-focused.
With over three years of experience providing outpatient play therapy to children aged 3 through 12, Jenya specializes in addressing trauma, anxiety, depression, behavioral challenges, and attachment-related concerns. Her approach is grounded in meeting each child where they are, building on their strengths, and empowering them to develop confidence and healthy coping skills. Outside of the office, Jenya enjoys reading, spending time outdoors, and being with her family.
You don’t have to navigate this difficult time alone—let’s talk about how Jenya can support your child and family together.
Corrine Guy, LCMHCA- Play Therapist, Theraplay
Corinne is excited to be joining the mental health team at Partners in Learning. She graduated from UNC Corrine Guy
Corinne’s gentle, patient spirit, combined with knowledge, training, and experience help her connect with children and caregivers, meeting them where they are in their healing journey.
When she is not counseling, Corinne spends as much time as possible in nature. She enjoys hiking, camping, and reading while snuggling with her pets.
Malia B. Selke, Counselor in Training (Clinical Mental Health)
As a counselor-in-training, my internship is a personalized space where the textbook meets real life. Healing is not one-size fits all, which is why,
Malia B. Selke
Angel L. Thomas, MSW, LCSWA
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate at Partners in Learning, Angel is passionate about empowering adolescents and their families. With a trauma-informed lens, Angel provides compassionate support for those experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD. By utilizing talk therapy and psychoeducation, Angel helps clients forge meaningful connections between their experiences and emotions, fostering emotional awareness and healthier coping strategies. Valuing collaboration, Angel works closely with caregivers to ensure comprehensive care, creating a nonjudgmental and affirming therapeutic environment where young people feel heard, respected, and capable of positive change.
What Parents Are Saying
“We are the parents of a bright and energetic toddler, leading busy and sometimes challenging lives in our day-to-day routines. Our family experiences periods of highs and lows, much like any family we know. We had reached a really low point last fall, and I realized we (as the parents) needed additional help. I walked into PIL and sat down in Aleshya’s office, willing to take any and all measures to create what I thought was a safe environment for our toddler. After confiding in Aleshya and Landon about everything we were facing, they offered a service I did not realize was available to us. PIL’s very own Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Angel Thomas (who provides individual and family psychotherapy), contacted me and asked to set up therapy sessions. I agreed to the service and began seeing her individually for three months. Once I felt I was in a healthier mental space, Angel invited my partner to join us and try to work through our issues together, as one. While recognizing we are two completely different individuals with unique childhoods, our focus remains the same: to be the best parents we can be for our child. We are now entering our seventh month of therapy with Angel, and our household is flourishing. Don’t get me wrong, we still have our differing opinions, but Angel is continuing to teach us how to work through these situations as a parental unit. I am so appreciative for the safe space Aleshya and Landon provided for me to open up and tell my story. It’s not easy to admit you need help. PIL has been a blessing to our family, and I am forever grateful to the staff who have made a difference, not only in our lives but especially for our child.”