Allyssa Burby is the Assistant Director of Training and Counseling Services at the WNE Center for Health and Well-Being. Allyssa is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Approved Supervisor. Allyssa has been with the Center since the fall of 2021 but has been part of the Golden Bear family since she was a freshman herself here at WNE in 2007. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with her B.A. in Psychology in 2011 and earned the Western New England University Psychology Honor Graduate Award. She graduated with her M.Ed. at Springfield College in the Marriage and Family Therapy program in 2014. Upon receiving her master’s degree, she came back to WNE in 2014 and began teaching as adjunct faculty in the Psychology Department while working in community mental health, inpatient hospital programs, and private practice. Allyssa is the clinical supervisor for all pre-licensed clinicians and developed the Center's graduate intern program which serves in teaching master’s level graduate students to become therapists.
As a therapist, Allyssa’s clinical lens is focused on treating not just the individual but the systemic context in which the person exists. She believes relationships in our lives whether they are romantic, familial, friendships, or acquaintances all shape who we become and how we respond to difficult life stressors. She explores the relationships you have and how each serves you and seeks to identify the phase of life transitions you are experiencing, what resources you have for support and unpacks how to differentiate your own thoughts/feelings/values/morals from your family of origin as you progress in your life. She incorporates mindfulness, breathwork, and yoga into her therapy style. She operates from a direct solution-focused approach in order to highlight exceptions and identify obtainable goals. She believes growth is not linear, sometimes it’s multidimensional and welcomes exploration into each dimension of your life.