Chris Burd,
MA, LAPC

Clinical Therapist for Individuals and Couples
(she/her/hers)

Specialties: Couples, Individuals, Trauma, Career Transitions, Anxiety, Depression, LGBTQIA+

As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has or ever will have, something inside that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.

 

– Fred Rogers

Sometimes we understand ourselves remarkably well and still struggle to turn that understanding into change. You see your patterns. You might even have a pretty good idea where they came from. But knowing why you do something and actually being able to do something differently are two very different things.

Maybe you’re anxious even when everything seems fine. Maybe your reactions sometimes feel bigger than the situation in front of you. You might find yourself caught between what you want and what you think you should want. Or maybe you’ve spent so much time adapting to other people’s expectations that you’re no longer entirely sure what feels authentic to you.

This is the kind of work I love helping clients tackle in therapy.

I work with adults who want to better understand themselves. I have a particular interest in trauma and trauma responses, attachment and relationship patterns, anxiety, identity, shame, and self-worth. I enjoy helping people explore who they are alongside all of the messages they’ve picked up about who they’re “supposed” to be. That includes working with men around masculinity, emotions, vulnerability, and relationships. My practice is LGBTQIA+ affirming, including asexual and aromantic identities, and welcoming of people across the gender spectrum and those in relationships that don’t necessarily follow traditional structures.

My style as a therapist is pretty conversational. I’m curious about why we do the things we do, and I tend to believe that even the patterns we really dislike about ourselves probably developed for a reason. Instead of immediately trying to get rid of them, I want to understand them with you. Where did this come from? What purpose did it serve? What was it protecting? And does it still need to do that job now?

My work is trauma-informed, attachment-focused, and person-centered, with a strong influence from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work. I also pull from psychodynamic, strengths-based, and cognitive approaches. I certainly believe practical skills have their place, but I’m not the therapist who is going to send you home with a worksheet every week. I’m much more interested in helping you develop insight, curiosity, and a different relationship with the parts of yourself you may have spent a long time fighting.

With couples, I approach our sessions with Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), helping partners understand the patterns they get stuck in and what is happening underneath them. I work with couples across identities and relationship structures. I’m not here to tell you what your relationship is supposed to look like. I want to help you understand each other better and figure out what you want your relationship to look like.

Before becoming a counselor, I spent more than 20 years working in business management and information technology. That experience still informs my work, particularly with people navigating careers, professional identity, burnout, or the sometimes uncomfortable realization that the path you’ve been following may not be the one you want anymore.

My own experience with counseling taught me how powerful it can be to have someone genuinely interested in understanding your experience rather than judging it or immediately trying to fix it. You don’t need to come to therapy knowing exactly what’s wrong, what needs to change, or where you want to end up. We can start with where you are.

Education:

• B.S. in Business Administration (Finance / Eastern European Studies) – University of Pittsburgh
• Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, May 2022

Licensure and Certifications:

• Licensed Associate Professional Counselor, Pennsylvania (#APC000005)

Additional Training:

• EMDR Level I and II – Institute for Creative Mindfulness, December 2023
• Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) Core Skills, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), December 2022
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), November 2021
• Level 1 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy, April 2023

Blog Posts:

• Attention Caregivers: Three (Not So) Simple Tips for Minimizing Holiday Stress
• How do we protect our mental health and wellness when the world suddenly feels less safe?

Insurance Accepted:

• Aetna
• Cigna
• Highmark
• Blue Cross / Blue Shield
• UPMC Commercial Plans

Self-pay also available.