About Rona Haberman - LCSW

Working out of the Homer, Alaska location, Rona has been a therapist for over twenty years, in both inpatient and outpatient hospital settings as well as community mental health centers. She has experience working with people from 5 to 105, but specializes in individual therapy with adults 18 years and older. She has worked toward empowering others to manage a variety of issues that impact their quality of life, including negative beliefs, trauma, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, life changes/transitions, stressors, difficulties in relationships, sexual identity and orientation, and substance abuse. Rona feels strongly that skills such as effective communication, setting healthy boundaries, and practicing mindfulness can help people thrive even through difficult circumstances past and present. Making her way west from her original home on the east coast, with a long layover in Arizona, Rona landed in Alaska in 2013, first living in Cordova and now on the Kenai Peninsula. When not working with clients, Rona loves doing yoga, being outdoors, traveling, seeing live music, and spending time with her husband John and their two dogs Thor and Hamish.

EDUCATION & TRAINING:

Rona received her clinical training at the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in Pennsylvania, where she received her Master’s degree in Social Work. Prior to that, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, her home town. In accordance with AK state law she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW #1292).

Rona is trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to address trauma, addiction, pain management, and other areas impacting emotional and physical well-being. She has been trained in basic mindfulness techniques. Rona is experienced in CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and has used that modality throughout her career.

EXPERIENCE:

Rona began her professional counseling career working on an inpatient psychiatric unit for those in crisis within a hospital setting. During the eight years she was an inpatient counselor, she facilitated group, family, couple, and individual therapy. She transitioned to outpatient counseling with the same organization, engaging with people in individual, couple, and family therapy as well as intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment. Rona also experienced the rich Native American culture on the Navajo reservation, working as a school counselor at a boarding school. In Cordova, Rona worked at the community mental health center, serving people from all backgrounds in the community who presented with a wide variety of mental health and support needs. She continues her outpatient work at Homer Medical Center, primarily providing individual therapy, and is excited to be apart of the KPMH team.

COUNSELING PERSPECTIVE:

Rona’s motto is “Don’t believe everything you think.” We all have some negative beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. She believes that we absolutely have the ability to create new, realistic, and positive beliefs, regardless of why or when our negative thoughts originated. With awareness of recent neurological research, Rona understands that some core beliefs are “hard-wired” in the brain, and her interventions are informed by that understanding. Rona takes an individualized approach, using various modalities depending on each person’s goals for treatment. She is a proponent of self-awareness and self-advocacy, firmly believing her role as therapist is to help people help themselves. Part of that work is helping her clients recognize the strengths and skills they already possess. Rona enjoys supporting individuals in thinking outside the box, identifying creative solutions to cope with and address stressors; she feels this idea also extends to the treatment process itself, as there is always another method to try if one way isn’t working. Interventions may include talk therapy, CBT, mindfulness, and EMDR, to name a few. Rona strives to “practice what she preaches,” with the understanding that we are all perfectly imperfect.