Are you struggling to understand yourself and your behaviors?

My name is Ashley J Farrish (she, her) and I am the owner of Pecola Counseling Services, LLC. I am a licensed independent social worker with a supervision designation. I graduated from the University of Akron in 2011 with a masters in social work. Upon graduation, I worked as an emergency mental health therapist and after a year in that position I moved on to provide psychotherapy to women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and and mental health disorders. In 2017, I opened Pecola Counseling Services, LLC and have worked in private practice solely since 2018.

My passion is in working with people who are on a journey of self-understanding and self-growth. I love working with people who have a strong desire to change their lives and feel empowered but are struggling to figure but how to make changes. I fiercely believe that people need to find a balance in their life and that the answer to things is complicated, much like the problems themselves. That’s hard to come to terms with and rigorous work, but a life worth living is possible! Each person has the ability to heal within and as a trained and knowledgeable resource I provide support, education, feedback and therapeutic interventions to clients.

While I am the therapist, I believe you are the expert in your life. I am a trauma focused therapist and believe strongly in a collaborative approach in counseling, one that respects the knowledge you already have about yourself. I love working with people from all different backgrounds. People often ask why I chose this profession. The answer is pretty simple: I can’t imagine doing anything other than helping people find their power.

But what about ME, ME?

I am a queer black woman who also identifies as neurodivergent. I have learned (and continue to learn) how to manage my own mental health/past experiences and am passionate about helping others do the same because I know what it’s like to feel stuck. I think we are working to accept the things we cannot change and change the things we can. I see healing as rigorous work and I believe we all have value, can experience joy and be useful to others in all periods of our lives (even when we feel the most pain).

I have two cats (Micah and Tabby). I love music, The Office, hiking/taking walks, going to the movies, writing/journaling, and I’m the kind of person who forgets to close cabinet doors..

I hope all this information helps you in deciding if you'd like to move forward. Know that I conduct consultations before scheduling first appointments as I think it’s important to establish that we are a good fit before proceeding with commitment to therapy.

FYI: I used to have a personal blog on participating in self-care, I have merged it with this website. If you check out the self-care tab you will likely get a better sense of who I am!

My practice is participating in HIPAA compliant teletherapy at this time AND in person therapy. I tend to still wear my mask in session but you are not required to do so. If you have had covid exposure or been around a lot of people unmasked, I ask that you switch to video therapy.

Good news is that video therapy is pretty easy to use. If you are using your phone, you can download “Telehealth by Simple Practice” and all you do is put in the link that is sent to you in the reminder email to login.

In order to participate in teletherapy, you must have usage of a cell phone, tablet or laptop, privacy (no one else in the room) and solid internet connection.