Meet Susan
Hi, I'm Susan.
I have spent my career sitting with people on the hardest days of their lives and helping them find a way forward. I am a licensed professional counselor, and I have specialized in substance use disorders since 1999.
I do not believe anyone has to reach rock bottom before they deserve help. If something feels off, that is reason enough to talk. My job is to meet you where you are and walk it with you, one step at a time.
My path here was not a straight line. I started in nursing, earned my Master's in Professional Counseling at Carlow University, and for more than a decade I have owned and directed sober living homes. I have seen recovery from the clinical side and the everyday, lived-in side both, and it is work I am glad to do.
Susan Rua
CADC · MSPC · LPC
- Master's in Professional Counseling, Carlow University
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Pennsylvania
- Associate's Degree in Nursing
- Owner and Director of sober living homes for 10+ years
- DDAP licensed
- BBB listed
My approach
Every person who walks through my door is carrying something different, so I do not work from a script. I draw on several techniques and match them to you, not the other way around. Often the substance, the anger, or the conflict is the surface of something deeper, and we make room to work on both.
Practically, that means we set short, achievable goals so progress feels real instead of overwhelming. We build coping and life skills you can actually use. And as things steady, we work on repairing the relationships that got strained along the way. You stay in the driver's seat the entire time.
Who I work with
Since 1999 my practice has grown well beyond where it started. People come to me for:
Many of my clients are court-referred or come from forensic settings. That is a normal starting point here, and you will be treated with the same respect as anyone else.
Background and credentials
The full list is in the card above: a Master's in Professional Counseling from Carlow University, licensure as a Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania, an Associate's Degree in Nursing, and more than ten years owning and directing sober living homes. My practice is DDAP licensed and BBB listed.
More than any credential, though, what I bring is decades of sitting across from people in hard moments and helping them take the next step.
The office
What walking in is like
My practice is on Bailey Avenue in Mt. Washington, a private, comfortable space that is easy to get to. There is no crowded waiting room and no sense that you are being sized up. It is just a quiet place to sit down and talk.
However you arrive, on your own or because someone asked you to, you will be met the same way: as an adult, with respect, and without judgment. If getting here is hard, we can meet by secure video instead.
- 20 Bailey Avenue, Suite 300, Mt. Washington, Pittsburgh
- Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Saturday by appointment.
- Telehealth available when getting to the office is hard
