Abena Derkyi
Compassionate, practical support for life changes
- Credentials
- LISW
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed in
- Ohio
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Abena
Abena Derkyi is a licensed independent social worker in Ohio with three years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people who are facing trauma, grief, anger, low self-esteem, ADHD challenges, and depression. She offers calm, straightforward support and aims to help people take practical steps toward feeling better.
She approaches work assuming each person knows their own story. Abena highlights strengths clients already have and builds on them. She encourages small, doable changes rather than big leaps.
Background and approach
Her way of working is supportive and direct, meant to steady people during difficult moments. Abena helps clients talk through painful events and the emotions that follow. She addresses self-harm thoughts with attention and care and helps people manage impulsivity and intense mood shifts.
She also supports issues around pregnancy and childbirth, adoption and foster care, and family-related stressors. Sessions aim to make problems feel more manageable. Abena helps clients set realistic goals and practice skills to handle anger, grief, and everyday stress.
She also works on building confidence and healthier habits that support long-term change. All work is rooted in evidence-based therapeutic techniques. She communicates plainly and keeps the focus on what the client needs in the moment.
People who prefer a practical, strengths-based approach may find her style helpful.
Therapeutic approaches and how they work online
Abena uses evidence-based techniques that focus on practical skills and emotional processing. One common method she draws on helps people process traumatic events by naming feelings, tracking triggers, and developing calmer responses. This approach is useful for trauma, abuse, and intense emotional reactions.She also emphasizes skill-building for mood and behavior regulation, breaking down problems into steps and practicing new ways to respond. That approach supports work on anger, impulsivity, disruptive mood shifts, and managing ADHD-related challenges.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with clients to decide which techniques fit their needs, goals, and preferences. That means trying strategies, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together.
Online sessions are offered via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text messaging to make therapy flexible. These formats let people fit sessions into busy schedules and receive ongoing support between meetings. Many clients find the range of options helps them stay consistent and apply skills in real life.
Frequently asked questions
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What is her approach and therapy style?
How much clinical experience does she have?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Trauma and abuse
- Grief
- Anger management
Also works with
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Parenting issues
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Experience
- 3 years
- Licensed
- Ohio
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Abena
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