My name is Stephen Ciucci, and by God’s grace I have the privilege to be a Christian Counselor.  I began a personal relationship with the Lord and Savior at age 16.  From that point I wanted to be involved in the Lord’s work but being a baby Christian I wasn’t sure how that would play out.  When entering college I was unsure on what direction to go in, with a little guidance from my mother I decided to major in Human Development and Family Relations at UCONN.  Once I had graduated in 1992, I obtained a position with St. Vincent DePaul Society working as a Residential Counselor with individuals with psychiatric disabilities in a residential support program.  After several years of employment I decided to work on my Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from CCSU.  I have found that doing my internship at Waterbury Hospital Crisis Unit was very beneficial for my growth as a counselor.  After several years of part time schooling I finally graduated in 2001 with my MS.  At the time I had been promoted to a supervisory position at SVDP working as a Rehabilitation Specialist which involved running various groups.  I also began serving as an elder at Waterbury Christian Fellowship.  Eventually, I then got promoted as the SVDP Program Coordinator and was in charge of supervising all the direct line staff and overseeing the day to day operation of the supervised apartment and residential support programs.  Though this was a challenging and rewarding position I felt unsettled feeling that the Lord was calling me to be a Christian Counselor.  As I accumulated post Master’s hours at SVDP and fulfilled all the requirements needed to be an LPC. 

     Now being licensed, I felt I needed some professional guidance from someone who already was well established in the field.  I contacted David Meiners LPC who has been practicing Christian Counseling for over 20 years.  He had agreed to mentor me for about a year.  He helped me work through my doubts and insecurities.  One statement that he made that still resonates in my mind was, “Your job as a counselor is to point your clients to the Counselor.”  One day during church I overheard a rather new saint at the fellowship share with another person that she worked at a Christian Counseling Center.  After talking to her about the center and explaining my situation to her, I felt it was a clear sign from God that He was opening a door for me.  I began counseling at Christian Counseling and Family Life Center on July of 2009 doing only pro-bono work.  I then started working on becoming credentialed through various insurance companies.  Once I was credentialed, I was able to start getting paid per session at the CCFLC.  The experience I was able to obtain at CCFLC was great.  However, I felt that the Lord placed on my heart to open up a practice in the Waterbury area.  I was able to find an office and get everything in place in order to bill from there.  The birth of CC of GW began on November 2010.  Things didn’t go smoothly, there was a leak in the roof that flooded the office in January of 2011 and delayed things for months.  Finally, the first client of CC of GW made an appt and was seen in June of 2011.  I believe that currently the Lord is working on me to head CC of GW going from a private practice to a Christian Counseling Center that has several Christian Counselors with various specialties, a psychiatrist, and other professionals working together as a team for the Lord to provide counseling services to those in the Greater Waterbury Area.  If you believe you could benefit from receiving counseling from me at CC of GW,please don't hesitate to contact me.