Annalisa Smithson

Therapy Doesn't Have to Suck.

This is the part where most therapist websites say something like “I believe in a holistic, client-centered approach to healing.” That part is true. I just think it sounds better in person. Here’s my story: I spent twelve years working in nonprofit and international development before I became a therapist. Tanzania. England. France. New York. I have a background in anthropology and I have sat with people in some of the hardest circumstances imaginable. I know what suffering looks like. I also know what it looks like when people stop surviving and start actually living.

That’s the work I want to do with you.

I specialize in anxiety and addiction. I work with adults who are exhausted by their own brains and ready to try something that actually moves the needle. My approach is grounded in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Which means we are not going to spend fifteen months talking about your childhood and then peter out. We are going to figure out what is keeping you stuck and we are going to do something about it.

Also there will be dogs.

Did You Say Dogs?

Benji is a hound mix from West Virginia. He has strong opinions about treats, no poker face whatsoever, and a gift for making people laugh at exactly the right moment. When you have been taking yourself too seriously for too long, Benji is the intervention you didn’t know you needed.

Clover is a chihuahua mix who spent some time on the streets of Texas before she found me. She is sweet and small and will find the exact spot you need her and snuggle up without permission. People say things around Clover they have never said out loud before. She has that effect.

Both are rescues. Both are Canine Good Citizens. Both take their jobs more seriously than most humans I know.

Pick Your Adventure.

Animal-Assisted Therapy

In-person sessions with Benji and Clover as full participants in your care. Clinically grounded, research-backed, and genuinely unlike anything you’ve tried before.

Walk & Talk Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

We go outside. We walk. We talk. Your nervous system participates in your own healing. Comfortable shoes are the only homework.

Virtual Therapy

CBT therapy from wherever you are in Pennsylvania. Same rigor. Same directness. Same commitment to actually getting somewhere.

Path & Paws™

Virtual Therapy

An 8-week stress management program for adults and their own dogs. You bring the dog. We bring everything else.

I Don't Do This Alone. Here’s Why That’s Good News for You.

I am a founding member-owner of the Unleashed Counseling® Collaborative. a network of independently owned therapy practices held together by shared values and a shared refusal to burn out and abandon our work. What that means practically: Other therapists are here to help me help you. I am held to standards that I actually believe in. And this seal on my website is not decorative. Here are our shared values: Anti-racist practice. LGBTQ+ affirming care. Animal welfare. Clinician wellbeing. Nature-based approaches. These are conditions of membership, not aspirations. Learn more at unleashedcounseling.com.

Annalisa Smithson, LPC, NCC, BICBT-CC

Hi, I'm Annalisa.

Therapy Doesn't Have to Suck.

Did You Say Dogs?

Pick Your Adventure.

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Walk & Talk Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Virtual Therapy

Virtual Therapy

Virtual Therapy

Path & Paws™

Virtual Therapy

Virtual Therapy

I Don't Do This Alone. Here’s Why That’s Good News for You.

Ready When You Are.