Deana D. Johnson, LCSW-C is the founder and CEO of Therapeutic Greenhouse. She is known to have a warm, relaxed, and direct approach to counseling that involves education, acceptance, and non-judgment. After several years of counseling and obtaining her certification in psychotherapy, she cherishes the amazing power of the therapeutic relationship. Ms. Johnson is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Foundation and affiliated with the Bariatric Surgery Center at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center. After suffering from being overweight for many years and experiencing weight loss surgery she uses her personal experience, education, and talent to treat the following:
Eating Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified
INDIVIDAUL THERAPY
Individual Therapy includes changing irrational beliefs about your weight, your body shape and dieting and restoring normal eating behaviors. Ms. Johnson assists with ending the destructive cycle of dieting, weight loss fixation, and emotional eating. As someone who have experienced weight loss surgery, Ms. Johnson understands and appreciate the desperate feelings that lead people to consider surgery as a weight loss intervention. However, if you are an emotional eater and are considering weight loss surgery, you may not have received sufficient support and an opportunity to work on the habits and/or issues that maintains your overeating. Not everyone who seeks weight loss surgery is an emotional eater. But if you are morbidly obese because of this factor, the emotional eating should be addressed, either as a substitute for surgery, or before or after surgery. Surgery alone will not help you cease the compulsive eating. You must address the stressors in your life that leads to overeating and other compulsive behaviors.
If you are planning to have weight loss surgery, Ms. Johnson provides supportive counseling before and after surgery, which assists with determining if you suffer from an eating disorder (specifically binge eating disorder) and with developing healthier strategies for you to live an emotionally, physically, nutritionally, and healthy life. If weight loss surgery is an appropriate intervention for you, Ms. Johnson regularly completes bariatric evaluations that meet insurance and surgeon requirements. The evaluation is a major step that ensures you are prepared to undergo surgery.
Since negative body image and poor self-esteem are often the underlying factors at the root of both eating disorders and emotional/compulsive eating, Ms. Johnson does integrate a recovery process into therapy.
COMORBID DISORDERS
Individuals that suffer from eating disorders, and emotional and compulsive eating, often experience symptoms of comorbid disorders and conditions. Ms. Johnson recognizes that combined treatment for co-occurring disorders and/or conditions (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, poor self-esteem, poor body image and body dysmorphia) is important to maintain long-lasting recovery. To help with providing treatment for comorbid disorders and conducting pre-surgery bariatric evaluations, assistance and treatment are provided by the following therapists:
GROUP THERAPY
In additional to individual therapy, group therapy is also an important component of your journey of healing. Starting this coming June, Ms. Johnson is conducting the following virtual support groups that promote connecting with others in the community who are in various phases of the therapeutic process and dealing with some of the same issues you may be dealing with.
Post-Surgical Weight Loss Support Group
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
To schedule an appointment for individual or group therapy with Ms. Johnson, contact her Personal Assistant Moesha McIntyre at 410-670-4769, Monday through Friday 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Saturday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. In response to COVID-19, we are pleased to offer both in person visits and telehealth services. All clients entering the office are required to wear a face mask in the waiting room and common areas. If you have not been feeling well, have traveled to an area that is considered high risk, or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, you are required to use telehealth services.
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EATING DISORDER SCREENING
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MISSION
We promote healing and long-term recovery via supportive counseling for those suffering from an eating disorder, emotional/compulsive eating and/or comorbid anxiety, PTSD, depression, body dysmorphia, poor body image and poor self-esteem. In pursuit of our Mission, we strive to:
- Improve the community’s understanding of eating disorders and their impact on society.
- Provide education and opportunities for individuals to identify early warning signs of eating disorders.
- Provide individual counseling, support groups and an environment that supports recovery and improves resilience.
- Assure that those who request information and need treatment have confidential access to the appropriate information and know how to obtain care.
CORE VALUES
Our values below influence the way we treat you as a client and the way we work with and interact with each other, colleagues, and community partners.
- It is important that we advocate for treatment and services for those who need them.
- The goal of treatment is recovery, and it is important for those who suffer from an eating disorder to be an essential part of their recovery process (i.e. decisions, support groups and medication regimens).
- We fulfill our mission most effectively when we collaborate with others and when we actively look for partners to assist us with achieving our goals.
- We believe that all persons are unique and that an individual’s gifts, talents, and challenges should be appreciated, respected, and supported with professionalism and clinical competence.
- We are committed to providing passionate, competent, and confidential services to our clients.
- We believe in the concept HEATHY AT EVERY SIZE (HAES), which embraces:
- Assisting you with improving your quality of life, rather than focusing on your weight loss alone.
- Helping you to reduce your health risks, to maintain your emotional and physical well-being, to practice non-restrictive eating (no dieting), to participate in exercise that you enjoy and to accept yourself regardless of your body size.
- We believe that weight is one single measurement that may or may not have a direct correlation with your health.
Places to Get Started
Our Team
Eating Disorders
Individual Treatment
Group Therapy