About Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC
Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC is a faith-based mental health private practice located in Hamden, Connecticut, offering therapy, coaching, and clinical supervision rooted in compassion, evidence-based care, and clinical integrity.
The heart of this practice is simple: healing begins when you take a stand for yourself. Whether you are navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship conflict, family stress, life transitions, or spiritual concerns, this is a space where you can be heard, supported, and gently guided toward growth.
Our approach honors the whole person — emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual. Christian faith may be integrated into the therapeutic process when desired by the client and when clinically appropriate. Faith is never forced. Each client’s story, background, beliefs, and comfort level are respected.
At Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC, care is warm, honest, collaborative, and clinically grounded. The goal is not simply to help clients cope, but to support deeper healing, healthier relationships, stronger boundaries, restored identity, and meaningful change.
Meet Our Clinical Team
Itsuannette Canales, LMFT
Founder & Clinical Director
Itsuannette Canales, LMFT is the Founder and Clinical Director of Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC, a faith-informed private practice dedicated to helping individuals find hope, healing, and lasting transformation. Since beginning her clinical work in 2016 and serving professionally as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2018, Itsuannette has had the privilege of walking alongside adolescents, adults, couples, and families through anxiety, depression,
trauma, grief, relationship challenges, life transitions, and the complexities of everyday life.
Known for her warm, authentic, and compassionate approach, Itsuannette is committed to creating a therapeutic environment where clients feel seen, heard, and genuinely understood. Her clinical work is grounded in evidence-based, trauma-informed care while honoring each client's unique story, cultural background, values, and life experiences.
Itsuannette's faith in Jesus Christ is foundational to both her life and her work, shaping the compassion, humility, integrity, and hope with which she serves. For clients who desire faith integration, she thoughtfully incorporates Christian perspectives into treatment in a way that is collaborative, clinically appropriate, and guided by the client's goals. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Connecticut, Itsuannette is bilingual in English and Spanish and is passionate about culturally responsive care.
Beyond the therapy room, Itsuannette is a speaker, writer, and founder of She Stands LLC, a faith-based coaching and community space dedicated to encouraging women in faith, emotional wellness, healthy relationships, and purposeful living.
She believes that healing begins with one courageous decision—to take a stand for yourself.
Shellina Toure, LMSW
Staff Clinician
Shellina Toure, LMSW earned her Master of Social Work from Fordham University in 2023. She is dedicated to helping individuals recognize their strengths, overcome barriers, and move forward with greater confidence, stability, and purpose.
With extensive experience in human services, behavioral health, homelessness, substance use recovery, crisis intervention, and community-based support, Shellina brings compassion,
practical experience, and a strengths-based perspective to her work.
Through Stand Counseling & Coaching, Shellina provides a supportive, welcoming, and nonjudgmental environment where individuals can feel heard, understood, and empowered. She believes meaningful change begins by meeting people where they are and helping them identify where they want to go.
Shellina works collaboratively with individuals to navigate life transitions and personal challenges, establish meaningful goals, strengthen coping skills, recognize their resilience, and develop practical strategies for moving forward.
Her philosophy is simple: you do not have to have everything figured out to take the next step. Sometimes, you simply need the right support, encouragement, and tools to help you move forward.
At Stand Counseling & Coaching, Shellina’s goal is to help individuals stand in their strength, discover new possibilities, and create meaningful change in their lives.
In addition, Shellina is the founder of Pillars of Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening individuals, families, and communities by providing support, resources, advocacy, and opportunities that promote stability and self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.pillarsofpromisefoundation.org.
Now accepting inquiries for October appointments.
Our Approach
Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC provides care that is compassionate, respectful, and clinically grounded. Depending on the needs of the client, therapy may include support with emotional regulation, communication, boundaries, trauma healing, grief work, relationship patterns, coping skills, self-worth, family dynamics, and spiritual reflection.
For clients who desire faith integration, Christian principles, biblical encouragement, prayer, and spiritual reflection may be incorporated into the counseling process. Evidence-based clinical care remains central, while faith is honored as a meaningful source of strength, healing, and restoration.
Who We Serve
Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC serves individuals, couples, families, and older adolescents seeking support through emotional, relational, and spiritual concerns.
Services may support those navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship concerns, family conflict, codependency, stress, self-esteem concerns, life transitions, and spiritual struggles.
Coaching, workshops, public speaking, and LMFT clinical supervision are also offered separately from psychotherapy.
Faith + Evidence-Based Care
At Stand Counseling & Coaching PLLC, faith and clinical care are held with respect, wisdom, and balance. Therapy is grounded in evidence-based practices that support emotional, mental, relational, and behavioral health, while also making room for Christian faith when desired by the client.
For clients who request faith integration, sessions may include biblical encouragement, prayer, spiritual reflection, and exploration of faith as a source of strength, healing, and guidance. Faith is never forced. Each client’s beliefs, background, and comfort level are respected.
The goal is to provide care that is clinically sound, spiritually sensitive, and deeply compassionate — helping clients move toward healing, healthier relationships, stronger boundaries, and meaningful growth.