Interview with Dylan Beckner

Dylan Beckner is the founder of Beckner Counseling, a therapy practice focused on individualized patient care in Leesburg, VA, with in-person and virtual options. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) specializing in adolescents, eating disorders, perinatal mental health (PMH-C), suicidal thoughts, and EMDR.

Interview

Question: What inspired you to become an LCSW and create Beckner Counseling?

When Dylan Beckner lost her father, a high school social worker helped support her through that difficult time, which Dylan states is one of her primary motivators for becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. While working in the hospital, she found that she didn’t love the way some things were being managed and decided to open her own practice, Beckner Counseling, to better suit her values and career goals.

Question: What makes being a LCSW stand out from other types of mental health providers?

Dylan stated that while other types of mental health providers may be primarily focused on only mental health issues, LCSWs treat the person as a whole, such as by taking into account their lifestyle and environmental factors, rather than just a patient’s mental health. LCSWs also do not focus as much on clinical or psychological testing and do not prescribe medication like other types of mental health providers.

Question: I know that you use a harm-reduction approach in your therapy services, can you expand more on that? Is this commonly seen in other practices?

Dylan states that a harm-reduction approach tends to be less daunting to patients facing struggles such as eating disorders and self-harm. In these instances, a harm-reduction approach includes educating the patient and making a plan with them to do harmful activities to a less frequent and less severe extent, with the aim to reduce harm and phase out the activity gradually. She said that this approach has gotten more popular in the past few years, and more practices are starting to incorporate this approach.

Question: As a professional that helps others with mental health daily, what are some things you do to maintain your own mental health? What do you recommend for others to improve their own mental health?

Outside of her career, Dylan loves working out to fill her bucket. She encourages the incorporation of movement into our everyday lives, even if it’s an activity with little movement, such as walking and gardening. Dylan also loves trying new things, such as new restaurants, to improve her mental health. To others trying to improve their mental health, she recommends everyday movement and self care, which includes doing a hobby you love. She stated that being a part of a community is also a powerful way to improve mental health, such as through spending time with friends and family. 

Question: If you were to start over, what would you have done differently or what did you wish you knew going into this field?

Dylan felt set on the aspect of therapy but wished she would’ve done more in marketing and networking when first starting Beckner Counseling. While she is more comfortable with networking now, she wishes she put herself out there more for networking at the beginning as well, as connections are really important in this field.