Janina Gunderson, Intern
Janina Gunderson is currently in her second year of a Masters program at Columbia's School of Social Work, where she is a part of the intensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) training program and lab under Andre Ivanoff, Ph.D. At BHBA, she’s continuing her education by practicing individual therapy, co-leading DBT skills groups, and participating in weekly consultation teams. She believes strongly in DBT, as a modality, because of its emphasis on both acceptance and change as tenets to building a life worth living, as well as the importance it places on genuine connection between the therapist and client. Janina is also particularly interested in the treatment of PTSD, specifically through Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure Protocol (DBT-PE) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Janina graduated from Cornell University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations, which led to career explorations in Human Resources, Labor Relations, and Law. While those professions allowed for interesting and important work, she found that she wanted to focus her life’s work on something that hit a little closer to home. She has seen firsthand through friends and family what living with mental illness and disabilities can look like. She has always had a passion for providing care and validation to those around her.
Janina has previous experience volunteering at Samaritans Suicide Hotline, where she provided support and crisis care to callers. In her first year at Columbia, she interned at Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, where she provided support and counseling to many low-income older adults that were navigating issues with the health care system, grief, loneliness, and life transitions. She is passionate about creating a holistic, client-centered, collaborative environment that holds space for those with marginalized identities through an antiracist, queer-affirming, and intersectional lens.
Janina speaks English and German fluently. In her free time enjoys weightlifting, running, attending concerts, and fostering rescue animals.