Licensed Graduate Social Worker

My name is Tifa Ward (pronounced Tee-fuh) and I graduated from Concord University in Athens, WV with my Bachelors in Psychology & Sociology in 2016, then graduated from Concord with my Masters in Social Work in December of 2021. I began my work with at risk youth working with them for 7 years in a residential treatment facility in WV. I then moved to Charleston and began working at Harmony in July of 2023.

My background includes working with at risk youth, with heavy emphasis on the LGBTQIA+ population. While working with at risk youth in the residential treatment facility, I developed an entire training dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ population for the staff while in the process of coming out as a transgender woman myself. Along with extensive research and a lived experience of being part of the LGBTQIA+ community as a transgender woman, I have a sense of relatability that can be difficult to find within the social services setting. I meet the clients where they are, progress with them at a comforting pace, and focus on a cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, strengths based, and person-centered approaches to treatment.

What motivated me to want to become a therapist and to help others was an experience in 2004I had when I was 11 years old while visiting family in Cleveland, OH. I had a family member who lived half a mile away from the house where the Cleveland kidnappings took place. Seeing the missing posters, being in the area at the time, and leaving Cleveland knowing those girls were still missing motivated me to want to help others.