Flip the Script: Interview with Zina Petrov, LPCC, MFT

M: Hello, my name is Megan, and I’m here with Zina, a therapist at the Cleveland Health and Wellness Center for our “Flip the Script: Ask a Therapist” series where you can get to know our CHAWC therapists a bit better. Zina Petrov is a Professional Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist at the Cleveland Health and Wellness Center in Rocky River, Ohio. She integrates individual client needs with systemic views to help overcome personal challenges and create harmonious relationships. She enjoys working with individuals, couples, and families, and has experience successfully treating depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and trauma. Treatment modalities in her practice include Compassionate Inquiry, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based therapy. When working with couples and families, she draws from General Systems Theory and Emotion Focused Therapy. She strives to build a collaborative, warm, and strength-based therapeutic relationship with clients while considering multicultural perspectives.

Hi Zina, thank you for being here today. 

Z: Hi Megan, thank you for having me.

M: Let’s get into a few questions about your work. When did you realize that you wanted to become a therapist?

Z: Initially it didn’t come to me as a thought, but I found myself at fourteen years old reading Freud. I was naturally drawn to that side of things, and later on, when one of my friends—I was around nineteen—one of my friends entertained the idea of being a therapist. Then a bulb lit up for me and I said, this is what my career path will be. But I was studying languages at that time, so I changed my major, and since then, this is what I’m doing.

M: And what populations do you enjoy working with?

Z: I enjoy working with couples, with relationships, I’m a relationally focused therapist, and youth and adults. I don’t target particularly a disorder. I enjoy working with people who are motivated for this type of work.

M: Yes. And what treatment modalities do you draw from in your work? 

Z: It’s based on people’s needs and their own goals. Some people come with specific goals, and then a cognitive behavioral approach is appropriate. Others come with needs of understanding themselves, or more exploration, and then I use compassionate inquiry or mindfulness-based approaches. 

M: What are your unique strengths as a therapist?

Z: I’m going to tell you what clients told me. Some are surprised that they talk a lot—they don’t expect that. Some acknowledge that I created that space in which they feel like opening up. Some clients commented on me being very calm and patient. I think my openness to do the work, and I try to be present with what people bring into the room with me. Those would be strengths.

M: Yes, definitely. And how do you manage stress in your life?

Z: Well, I’m trying to stay disciplined and balance work and life. I do yoga, meditation, I focus on cultivating positive relationships with family and friends. And taking breaks and vacations.

M: Yes, vacations are nice. And then I have one more question for you: what makes therapy effective, and who can benefit from therapy?

Z: I believe that progress and effectiveness of therapy lies in the safety of the therapeutic relationship. When there is safety, we can look at ourselves without those defenses that brought us initially in therapy. There’s a lot that goes into creating this safety. It’s the therapist’s capacity to be present, attuned to their own personal work. At the same time, it is important clients’ motivation and readiness for change. And for what people therapy is appropriate—for those who want to better themselves, for those who want to change something. 

M: Well, thank you so much for being here today and answering these questions and letting us get to know a little bit more about you.

Z: Thank you for these questions.