Get to Know Our Team: Alana Stramowski

Soft Skills and Connection

I didn’t always know I wanted to be a therapist. What I did know, from a young age, was how powerful it can be to share your story and have it truly heard – with validation, empathy, and care. I’ve always believed that when people feel genuinely understood, relationships and even entire communities can heal. That belief is what ultimately led me to therapy after my first career as a writer.

If I could offer my younger self one piece of advice, it would be to stop listening to people who dismissed the value of “soft skills”. Communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, cultural competence, and critical thinking are not optional. They shape our interactions, our communities, and our world. And when cities, communities, and countries lose connection to these skills, we end up in the kind of collective struggle that feels all too familiar today.

Rooted in Empathy, Dedicated to Long-Term Healing

As you’ve probably gathered, my therapeutic style is rooted in empathy and genuine human connection. I aim to support clients in feeling empowered to choose how they want to live. Choice and autonomy can feel complicated, especially in a world where systemic forces restrict many people’s ability to move freely, make meaningful decisions, or feel safe enough to dream. I hold space for this nuance: acknowledging the reality of those systems while also helping clients explore where choice and agency can still exist, even in small places. The work I do with clients is rarely short-term or a quick fix. I accompany clients as they dive deeper into themselves, using that insight to shape how they show up with others and in the world.

What brings me the most joy as a therapist are the small but significant moments – what I think of as “quiet victories.” A client who has long struggled with boundaries finally stands up for themselves with clarity and care. Another pauses mid-session and says, “ You know, I haven’t thought about it that way before.” These moments add up. Over time, they become the foundation for clients living in alignment with their truest selves.

Intentional Connection

Specializing in relationships has taught me that no meaningful relationship is completely free from conflict. Some challenges are certainly more workable than others, of course, but people are complex. We carry personal histories (read: trauma), quirks, and worldviews that can make connections messy at times. But life isn’t something any of us can do entirely alone. Connection is inevitable; what we choose to do with it is where the work and the beauty live.

“When we are dealing with human beings, no truth has reality by itself; it is always dependent upon the reality of the immediate relationship.”

– Rollo May, Existential Psychologist

I’m a Human, Too

Outside of the therapy room, I like to keep my life varied, which often means trying out new hobbies. Lately, I’ve been very into knitting. A constant, though, is my love of cooking and sharing meals with the people I care about. I grew up learning from two excellent home chefs, and cooking has remained one of my favorite creative outlets. There’s always something new to learn, some new cuisine to explore, or inspiration waiting to be recognized.

I also love to laugh and find humor genuinely healing, especially when the world feels heavy and uncertain. Recently, I’ve been watching Detroiters, a goofy and wonderfully absurd sitcom about two best friends (Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson) running an ad agency in Detroit. It is VERY funny.