Akinlana Burrowes, LMHC, LCMHC

Akinlana Burrowes is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Expressive Arts Therapist practicing in Massachusetts and North Carolina. She combines traditional talk therapy with expressive arts, liberation psychology, EMDR, and other body-based techniques to create an integrative approach tailored to each person’s needs. By blending somatic methods and creative modalities, she helps clients access emotions and memories that can be difficult to reach through words alone.

She has supported people experiencing anxiety, depression, and trauma, particularly trauma connected to systemic oppression. Her work emphasizes cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural experience, and she has applied interdisciplinary art forms such as music, dance/movement, visual art, drama, and poetry both in the United States and overseas. This background informs a practice that values clients’ cultural narratives and creative expression.

For clients who find verbal processing challenging, she invites the arts to guide exploration and healing. Sessions aim to validate lived experience while building practical coping skills and resilience. Akinlana strives to create a collaborative space where clients lead the work and feel empowered to pursue meaningful change and well-being.

Integrative Therapeutic Approaches for Online Care

Akinlana draws on client-centered therapy, EMDR, and mindfulness-based techniques to support clients in online sessions. Client-centered therapy focuses on creating a respectful, nonjudgmental relationship where the client’s goals and experiences guide the work; it is useful for building self-esteem, improving communication, and navigating life changes. EMDR involves structured attention to distressing memories and sensory processing to reduce the intensity of traumatic recall; it is often used for trauma and post-traumatic stress related concerns. Mindfulness therapy teaches present-moment awareness and practical skills to manage anxiety, stress, and emotional reactivity.

Finding the right approach is collaborative. Akinlana works with each client to assess needs, preferences, and goals, adjusting methods over time so therapy feels like a good fit and supports steady progress. Clients are invited to explore which combinations of expressive, somatic, and evidence-informed techniques resonate with them.

Online therapy offers flexibility by allowing sessions via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into busy schedules, to connect across distances, and to use different formats for processing—whether through conversation, brief messages, or creative prompts shared during a session.