Getting Started With Us
Getting started with counseling doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Our Intake Clinicians are here to make the process simple and help you take the first step toward finding the right support.
During your intake, you’ll have the opportunity to share what brings you to counseling, what you’re hoping to work on, and what you’re looking for in a provider. Your Intake Clinician will listen, answer questions, and help connect you with a clinician who best fits your needs and preferences.
Each Southbury Counseling location has a dedicated Intake Clinician who is familiar with the providers and services available at that office, making it easier to find the right fit and get started.
Ready to take the first step? Get started today.
Azariah is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate ( LPCA) with a Masters of Education in Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Sport Psychology from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Eastern Nazarene College.
Azariah works with children, adolescents, and adults using a person-centred, integrative approach to therapy. She supports clients navigating anxiety, depression, life transitions, and stress by tailoring care to each individual. Azariah Integrates evidence based modalities, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Emotional- Focused Therapy to support emotional awareness, processing, and healing.
Azariah brings a warm, down-to-earth energy into every session. She blends humor, authenticity, and compassion to create a space where clients feel truly seen, heard, and accepted. In her sessions, there is room to explore thoughts, process emotions, and make steps toward meaningful change at a pace that feels right for each person.
Outside of the therapy room, Azariah enjoys listening to podcasts, watching sports, reading, and spending time with loved ones.
Brookfield Intake Clinician
Azariah Bowden, LPCA
Mikayla is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA) who earned her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of New Haven. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, and adults and is passionate about helping clients navigate anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, stress, and other emotional challenges.
Mikayla believes that therapy is a collaborative journey and strives to create a warm, welcoming, and judgment-free space where clients feel comfortable being themselves. She takes a person-centered approach to therapy, recognizing that each client is the expert on their own life, while incorporating evidence-based interventions from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to meet each individual's unique needs and goals. She hopes that every client leaves sessions feeling heard, supported, and empowered with the tools they need to create meaningful, lasting change.
In her free time, Mikayla enjoys drawing, reading, staying active at the gym, and spending time with family and friends.
Newtown Intake Clinician
Mikayla Tierney, LPCA
Nicolette Tingo, MA, LPC-A
Nicolette Tingo, MA, LPC-A, earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Fairfield University after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Salve Regina University. She has experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families in outpatient mental health settings.
Nicolette takes a trauma-informed, client-centered approach to therapy, creating a safe, supportive environment where clients feel heard, understood, and empowered throughout their therapeutic journey. She has experience working with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, emotional dysregulation, and interpersonal relationship concerns.
Her therapeutic approach integrates evidence-based and creative interventions, drawing from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), play therapy, art therapy, creative writing, and trauma-informed practices to meet each client’s unique needs. She has also received training in Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), a framework designed to support children who have experienced trauma, strengthen emotional regulation skills, and promote healthy family relationships.
Nicolette believes that every client deserves a compassionate, collaborative, and individualized therapeutic experience. She emphasizes safety, autonomy, unconditional positive regard, and holistic care while meeting clients where they are and supporting them in working toward meaningful, lasting change.
Plainville & Virtual Intake Clinician
Ashley is a dedicated Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A) who earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a concentration in Child Development from Albertus Magnus College and holds a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling and Mental Health from Post University.
Ashley utilizes a client-centered, integrative therapeutic approach that draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and person-centered therapy. She believes in meeting clients where they are and tailoring treatment to each individual’s unique needs and goals.
Ashley is committed to creating a safe, nonjudgmental, and inclusive therapeutic environment where clients feel supported and understood. Through a collaborative and strengths-based process, she honors each client’s unique story and pace. She works with individuals navigating life transitions, stress, anxiety, relationship challenges, and personal growth, helping them reconnect with their values and resilience. Therapy with Ashley is not about “fixing” a person—it’s about supporting clients as they gain clarity, confidence, and emotional balance.
She values authenticity, curiosity, and cultural awareness in the therapeutic process. Her goal is to foster an empowering environment where clients feel comfortable showing up as their full selves and working toward the life they want to live.
Cheshire & Virtual Intake Clinician
Ashley Boone, LPCA
Watertown and Southbury Intake Clinician
Collin Benedict, LMSW
Collin is a Licensed Master Social Worker who works with adolescents, young adults, adults, and families navigating a wide range of mental health, relational, substance use, and identity-related concerns. She holds an M.S.W. in clinical social work from Smith College School for Social Work. She brings a rich, varied background to her clinical work, including prior experience as a high school teacher, which continues to inform her deep appreciation for the developmental needs of young people.
Collin's clinical experience spans residential, intensive outpatient, and school-based settings, where she provided individual and group therapy, conducted intake/risk assessments, and developed collaborative treatment/IEP-504 plans for clients managing learning differences, eating disorders, substance use, anxiety, mood and personality disorders, and trauma.
Collin's approach is grounded in psychodynamic theory and is person-centered, strengths-based, systems-oriented, and trauma-informed. She holds an awareness of the mind-body connection throughout her work, attending to the many ways mental health can manifest somatically, and believes that every person holds the capacity to heal from within. Collin works to create a space where clients feel safe to explore their full selves.
As a white, queer/bisexual, cisgender woman, Collin is especially passionate about supporting clients who hold identities that make them more likely to experience inequity and is committed to practicing with cultural humility and an ongoing awareness of the ways power and privilege shape mental health care today.