Ivana Borba

Hi! I’m Ivana. I have openings for clients looking for couples and relational counseling or individual therapy in Utah, Washington, & Idaho.


Pricing

Per 50-minute session

Individual Therapy

$110

Couples, Family, or Relational Therapy

$120

Click here for details about payment


Education

Since the moment I learned that family relationships was a college major and career path I felt strongly drawn to it. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in Family Life, with an emphasis in Family Studies. During my time as an undergraduate student, I took all of the marital and relational classes available including healthy sexuality in marriage, marriage preparation, marital relationships, and marriage enhancement among others. I also graduated with my Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University. I am certified to teach Love Notes, an evidenced-based program designed to teach healthy relationships and Anxiously Engaged, a research-based marriage preparation program for LDS couples.


Experience

In my clinical experience, I have worked with couples, individuals (teenagers, young adults, and adults) and families with a wide range of presenting problems including anxiety, depression, ADHD, relationship issues, grief, body image, life transitions, pre-marital counseling, emotional regulation, and trauma. I enjoy working with parents and their teenage or young adult children. I particularly love working with couples who are struggling with sexual challenges, cultural problems, finances, communication problems, emotional regulation and conflict resolution.

Because of my roots, I have loved working with Hispanic clients and doing therapy in our native language. I have worked with families where the parents’ first language is Spanish and the kids’ preferred language is English and been able to communicate fluently and comfortably with both. In most of my work, I like to take a holistic approach by looking at each individual’s physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and relational/social areas of their life.


Research & Writing

My master’s thesis was on the therapeutic alliance among Latino clients in couple therapy. Research has consistently shown that the most consistent predictor of positive therapy outcomes is a strong therapeutic relationship between clients and their therapist. Because of this and my personal experience in practice, I firmly believe that my relationship with my clients is one of the most important factors for change in the therapeutic room. Other papers and projects I’ve participated in have been on topics of healthy sexuality, cross-cultural marriages, therapy dropout, routine outcome monitoring, physical and emotional abuse among cultural minorities, transition to parenthood, and mindfulness.


Speaking & Community

I have taught marriage preparation classes to groups of young couples and healthy family relationships classes among religious congregations. I have also done presentations in different religious settings about marital and family relationships in the United States and Uruguay. I have guest lectured several times at different undergraduate BYU classes such as Cross-Cultural Families & Human Development and Family Adaptation & Resiliency.


On a more personal note…

I was born and raised in Uruguay. I attended accounting school and worked as a professional photographer and travel agent in Uruguay for a few years until I decided to serve a full-time mission for my church. After serving an 18-month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St. George Utah, I decided to come back to the United States to pursue an education. During my first semester of college, I learned about this career and I immediately became passionate about the idea of helping couples and families heal and change.

Coming from a family of multi-generational trauma, and having witnessed in my own extended family a diversity of family issues including infidelity, divorce, remarriage, chronic depression, ADHD, disability, immigration, death and loss, economic stress, violence, same-sex attraction, and marital stress is what led me to want to help others build and strengthen healthy family relationships. I believe change, healing, and joy in couple and family relationships are possible amongst life’s hardships. My hope is for my clients to be able to thrive in life and their most important relationships. I believe my past experiences and the environment and culture in which I grew up combined with my education and clinical experience have prepared me to develop as a healing influence for others.

While at school I met my husband and had two kids. We love playing board games, making good food, and moving our bodies through different activities such as fitness, sports, and the outdoors. During my free time, I like to do crafts, teach group fitness classes, work on projects around the house, play the guitar, take pictures, listen to loud music, and go to the movies.