Maggie Slaska, PhD, MFT

Maggie Slaska’s Practice

I am a queer-identified therapist, active member of the LGBTQ community and my office is co-located with other LGBTQ health care providers at the Center for Health and Wellbeing. It is important that therapists understand and have knowledge about the unique needs, experiences, and challenges of LGBTQ communities.

Many therapists receive little to no formal training on our community and the result is that LGBTQ folks often leave the therapist’s office feeling misunderstood or judged. Some clients report that the therapist spent unnecessary time trying to understand the basics of terminology, pronouns, family of origin matters, or other topics that may or may not be relevant to the client. In my practice, I stay close to what you are interested in and what topics you think are important to talk about.

What Makes Maggie Slaska Different?

I specialize in working with professionals, non-profit and health care professionals, therapists, counselors, educators, and other awesome folks who are out there changing the world. My approach is personable, non-judgmental and engaged. I practice Solution Focused and Narrative Therapy which center you as the expert in your own life, and my role is to facilitate conversations that trust your knowledge, your experience and your abilities to overcome problems. Therapy can help you think about problems from new and fresh perspectives, some encouragement to trust your own perspective, or to contemplate multiple angles of a dilemma. I’m here to gently nudge you into helpful directions. I put my heart, soul (and training!) into providing clients with a positive, warm therapeutic experience.

Narrative therapists often say, “The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem.” This is a powerful, yet simple statement. It means we can talk about a problem as something that may affect you; yet the problem does not define who you are and the sum of your lived experiences. This approach to therapy reminds us that we are complex, resilient beings who can and do change, given the right contexts and conditions.

Narrative Therapy is interested in the complex stories that we tell about ourselves and the stories that others tell about us. Narrative therapy is not just about telling stories, rather it’s how we have been trained to speak about our experiences and how we speak about our identity. It is also about trying to find new ways of speaking that help us feel better, behave in new ways and shift our relationships with others.

Education

Ph.D. Psychology from Vrije University Brussels
M.S. Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy from San Diego State University
M.A. Women’s Studies from San Diego State University
B.A. Psychology and Women’s Studies from West Chester University

Professional Affiliations

San Diego State University Faculty (Director of the Education Counseling and Advanced Certificate in Trauma-informed Care Program)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
CA Certified Domestic Violence Offender Treatment Provider
CA Certified Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Counselor