Dr. Ariane Thomas
LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
Extensive experience working with student-athletes
Specializes in helping individuals encountering depression, anxiety, work stress, relationship issues, racial stress, and racial identity development
Dr. Ariane Thomas is a PA licensed clinical psychologist who has been working in Philadelphia and surrounding communities for over a decade. Dr. Thomas received her M.A. and Psy.D. from the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University, and simultaneously earned a J.D. from the Widener University School of Law in Delaware. Dr. Thomas always seeks opportunities to combine her psychological expertise with her legal knowledge, and her recent work providing stress management training and services to attorneys and judges does just that.
Dr. Thomas maintains a private psychotherapy practice working with individuals confronting a variety of challenges, including depression, anxiety, work stress, relationship issues, racial stress, and racial identity development. Dr. Thomas dedicates part of her time in her private practice to the cost-free treatment of military veterans with trauma disorders and other mental health issues through the organization Give an Hour. She also offers sliding scale and cost-free treatment for Black Lives Matter protesters. In her classes at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Thomas emphasizes to students that issues of social justice, including ensuring that counseling services are accessible to marginalized communities, are values at the very foundation of ethical counseling practice.
Another one of Dr. Thomas’ passions is working with elite athletes. Specifically, she is interested in the exploration of the distinct developmental challenges and stressors affecting elite athletes, such as character and racial identity development in early stages, and grief and loss experienced at the end of their careers. In her private practice, she works with athletes at various stages of development, addressing issues affecting them most evidently outside of their sports, with the purpose of enhancing their functioning both on and off fields of play. This work is fundamentally different from traditional therapy in style and approach, but implements evidence based psychology oriented interventions.
Her work with traditional therapy clients relies on Dr. Thomas’ eclectic clinical style. Starting with strong therapeutic rapport as the foundation, she pulls from select theories, and ultimately tailors her approach to suit a client’s needs. She works purposefully to create an egalitarian treatment environment that values the client’s input as much as her own. As such, determining certain aspects of the therapy relationship is done collaboratively with clients, giving them ownership over the process. Dr. Thomas treats both individuals and couples, from older children to adults, and typically comes to understand her clients from a psychodynamic perspective. Her treatment approach includes but is not limited to analyses of gender and social location, existential exploration, and cognitive behavioral interventions to assist her clients in achieving their personal goals.