Reverend Leslie Westbrook, Ph.D., LCPC
Doctorate in Clinical Social Work
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Psychotherapy with Individuals and Couples

Office: 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
To leave a confidential message, call 301 946-7576
Or email Dr. Westbrook at lesliewestbrook@verizon.net


Dr. Westbrook provides brief or long-term psychotherapy for individuals, and pre-marital, marital, and partnership counseling for couples. She also provides consultation services to social workers, counselors, ministers, and graduate students.

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING/PSYCHOTHERAPY


Individuals who come for counseling/psychotherapy may be:

Rev. Leslie Westbrook
  • facing difficulty in their intimate or marital relationships;

  • feeling anxious, depressed or empty inside;

  • finding it difficult to navigate through adolescence, early adulthood, mid-life or the later years;

  • facing life transitions such as marriage, parenthood, divorce, unemployment, or illness;

  • experiencing physical, emotional or sexual abuse;

  • mourning or anticipating loss;

  • struggling whether to have children, or experiencing infertility or pregnancy loss;

  • finding it difficult to parent teenagers or children, or relate to their elderly parents;

  • participating in a twelve-step group and be struggling with co-dependency issues;

  • concerned about spirituality, faith or religious issues.


    MARITAL AND PARTNERSHIP COUNSELING


    Couples often want to learn ways to nurture and strengthen their relationship. Dr. Westbrook provides a safe place to talk over difficulties the couple are experiencing.

    Couples come for counseling for many reasons. Some are facing a situational crisis and are seeking support for their relationship. For others, there may be conflict in the relationship. In the context of exploring the issues creating the conflict, couples may learn better communication and conflict resolution skills. They may learn how to better negotiate and more satisfactorily compromise. Sometimes individuals in the partnership find that present difficulties resonate with past painful experiences. Developing greater empathy for oneself and for one's partner may then be a part of the counseling.

    PRE-MARITAL COUNSELING


    In pre-marital counseling, Dr. Westbrook encourages couples to focus on: what they love about one another; what they think are their individual strengths and vulnerabilities; what their hopes are for their new or continued life together; ways to communicate that will nurture the intimacy in their relationship.

    Topics are chosen by the couple and may include: relationships with parents and in-laws; children and parenting; family of origen issues; work and career; finances; religion and spirituality; sexuality and sexual relationship; sex roles; division of labor at home; recreation and leisure activities.


    CONSULTATION SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION


    Dr. Westbrook works with clergy and church professionals as a coach, as a facilitator of communication in multi-staff situations, and as a therapist to individual clergy and clergy couples. She also provides clinical consultation to social workers, counselors, ministers and graduate students.

    CREDENTIALS


    Dr. Westbrook holds a Ph.D. from the Institute for Clinical Social Work of Chicago, a Masters from Boston University in Theology, a certificate from the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy of Chicago, a Masters from Tufts University in Religious Education, and a Bachelors from American University. Dr. Westbrook is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor.

    Fees for therapy or counseling may be covered by insurance.