Rate Christina Bonniwell

Hi, I'm Christina — but most people just call me Christy.

I'm a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Ohio, dedicated to supporting individuals through life's most challenging moments. I specialize in helping people navigate depression, anxiety, trauma, and the complex emotions that often come with major life transitions. Sometimes just having someone in your corner makes all the difference in the world. I believe therapy should be tailored to fit your needs — but most importantly, it should be a safe space for you to express and explore your own emotions, and maybe have a little fun while doing it!

My Background

I've spent the last eight years working in some of the most intense areas of mental health care — psychiatric inpatient units, crisis stabilization, and trauma work with kids, families, and adults. I've also worked extensively in substance use treatment. That range of experience has given me a deep, hands-on understanding of what people go through in their hardest moments — not from a textbook, but from actually being in the room for it.

Along the way, I've worked in psychiatric inpatient hospitals, on crisis intake lines, in county behavioral health clinics, and in skilled nursing facilities, supporting people across every stage of life — children, teenagers, adults, veterans and active-duty service members, and older adults navigating the later chapters of their lives. I've conducted crisis assessments for people in the middle of their worst moments, helped families in acute distress find stability, and supported individuals working through the aftermath of trauma, abuse, and addiction.

I've sat with people on their hardest days, and what that's taught me, more than anything, is that healing doesn't have to feel heavy all the time — and it's important to build in things to look forward to in your life, even when you're going through it. That belief shapes everything about how I show up in the therapy room. I'm not interested in therapy that feels like a chore or an obligation. I want it to feel like something you actually want to show up for.

What Working With Me Feels Like

I'm warm, direct, and a little unconventional. You won't get a therapist who nods silently and waits for the hour to end — you'll get someone who's genuinely present with you, who brings humor and creativity into the room when it fits, and who believes therapy should feel like a real conversation, not a performance.

I've worked with kids using play therapy, with veterans and active duty service men and women navigating trauma and legal stress, and with families in crisis — and across all of it, the thing that's mattered most is you. Not a diagnosis. Not a checklist. Not a treatment plan I've already decided on before I've even met you. You — your specific story, your specific pace, your specific goals. We'll take therapy at your pace and find what works for you, because I genuinely don't believe there's a single formula that works for everyone. What helps one person heal might do nothing for someone else, and part of my job — maybe the most important part — is figuring that out with you, together, rather than assuming I already know.

I bring a trauma-informed, client-centered approach to everything I do. That means I'm not here to hand you a script or tell you who to be — I'm here to help you figure that out for yourself, with someone who will always encourage you and who's seen a lot and isn't easily rattled.

After years of working in psychiatric inpatient units and crisis stabilization settings, very little surprises me anymore. Whatever you bring into the room — however messy, however "too much" it might feel to say out loud — chances are I've sat with something like it before. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm not going to flinch.

Who I Work With and What We Can Work On

My approach is grounded in compassion and respect for each and every client I work with. I work with clients on self-esteem, narcissistic abuse recovery, communication, grief, and healing from past wounds — including trauma, abuse, and relationship difficulties. I'm experienced in supporting people through divorce, workplace stress, family conflict, and the isolation that can come with life changes. I also have a strong background in helping individuals address panic, social anxiety, mood challenges, and the shame or guilt that may be holding them back.

I believe in meeting you where you are, honoring your values and beliefs while creating a safe, nonjudgmental space for growth. Whether you're working through abandonment, codependency, attachment patterns, or simply seeking greater self-love and purpose, I'm here to support your healing at your own pace.

If you're navigating a life transition, if a relationship has left you questioning your own reality, if grief has settled into your life in a way that feels hard to move through, or if you're simply tired of carrying something alone — these are all things we can work on together. Therapy doesn't require you to have the right words ready, or to know exactly what's wrong. Sometimes the first session is just about naming what's hard, without any pressure to have it figured out yet.

A Little More About Me

And just for fun, here's a little more about me: I absolutely love animals and I have four fur babies. They keep my household lively and my heart full, and if you're an animal person too, we'll probably end up talking about our pets at some point — I don't mind at all.

I've traveled all over the world and hope to keep traveling one day — my favorite place is the beach! There's something about being near the ocean that resets me in a way nothing else quite does. I spent over 22 years living in California, and that stretch of my life shaped so much of who I am — my pace, my perspective, my appreciation for sunshine and open space.

Two of my favorite pastimes are roller skating and thrift shopping, and let's not forget the performing arts! I've always loved creative, expressive activities, and I think that shows up in how I approach therapy too — I believe healing doesn't always have to happen through words alone. Sometimes movement, art, and play open doors that straightforward conversation can't. If you catch me at home, I'm most likely working on some kind of art project or craft, probably with music playing in the background.

I can't wait to meet you and learn all about your favorite things — so reach out, and let's begin your therapy journey. I mean that sincerely: getting to know the small, specific things that make you you — your favorite show, your go-to comfort food, the hobby you geek out about — is part of what makes this work meaningful to me. Therapy isn't just about your struggles; it's about your whole self.

My Commitment to You

If you're looking for a therapist who takes the work seriously but doesn't take herself too seriously — who'll meet you with honesty, warmth, and maybe a little humor along the way — I'd love to work with you.

I don't believe effective therapy has to feel clinical, sterile, or distant. Some of the most meaningful breakthroughs happen when people feel safe enough to laugh, to be a little silly, to bring their whole, complicated, human selves into the room without fear of judgment. That doesn't mean we'll avoid the hard places — we won't, when you're ready to go there — but I don't think the hard places need to be approached with a heavy hand every single time.

My background spans psychiatric inpatient care, crisis intervention, substance use treatment, work with children using play therapy, family systems work, and support for adults navigating everything from trauma to major life transitions. That range has taught me to be flexible rather than rigid — I don't force every client into the same box or the same modality. I draw from what actually works for the person in front of me, whether that's more structured, evidence-based approaches or something more exploratory and creative, and I build the combination around you specifically.

I also care deeply about the systems around you — your family, your work, your community — because healing doesn't happen in a vacuum. Understanding how your history shaped your relationships, how your work life is bleeding into your home life, or how a major transition is touching every corner of how you're functioning — that broader picture matters to me just as much as any single symptom.

Why This Work Matters to Me

Ultimately, I do this work because I believe deeply in people's capacity to heal, grow, and change — even in moments when that feels impossible. I've watched people walk into a room in the middle of their worst crisis and, with the right support, find their way back to something steadier. I've watched people process trauma they'd carried silently for years. I've watched people finally set a boundary they'd been afraid to set for a lifetime. None of that happens because I have some special formula — it happens because people are far more resilient than they usually give themselves credit for, and sometimes all it takes is having the right person walk alongside them while they do that work.

I believe in meeting you exactly where you are — no judgment, no pressure to be someone you're not, and no assumption that I understand your story better than you do. My role isn't to fix you, because you were never broken to begin with. My role is to walk beside you, ask the right questions at the right moments, offer perspective and tools when they're useful, and remind you — especially on the days you forget — that you are capable of far more than you think.

Taking the first step toward therapy takes real courage, and I'm honored every time someone chooses to take that step with me. If any of this resonates with you — if you're tired, stuck, grieving, anxious, overwhelmed, or simply ready for something in your life to feel different — I'd love to hear from you.

Reach out, and let's begin your therapy journey — together.