Meet Founder & Chief Executive Officer
A Qualified Provider
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Tonya's Mission: To counsel youth and or adults, provide guidance and understandings of what is needed in the workforce, while enhancing the betterment of individuals' thinking and livelihood.
Tonya Ridley is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Certified Work incentives Counselor and a Certified Employment Support Specialist. Tonya has experience working with individuals who are diagnosed with a physical, cognitive and/or mental disability. Tonya has worked with children, young, middle and elderly aged adults in schools and in all rehabilitation settings such as: Hospitals, Therapeutic Recreation, Psychiatric facilities (inpatient and outpatient), correctional detention facility or currently now, with chronically homeless individuals who were recently housed. Tonya holds many success stories of landing employment for individuals whom are not only trauma-informed but have also not worked in over a ten-year span of time. It is her belief that all citizens can be productive working citizens with the right supports put in place.
Tonya holds a firm place in trauma not directing lives. Tonya knows stress brings about the biologically vulnerability to mental and physical disorders. She educates others that without necessary supports in place, illness and even death can happened as a result of these vulnerabilities. Tonya holds a Masters of Science in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She has specialized knowledge in the medical psycho-social aspects of disability as it relates to work and has extensive years of experience working with persons whom have mental illnesses. She currently uses this knowledge to assess individuals and place them in the workforce with appropriate reasonable accommodations in place that she, her clients and her team identifies as a need.
In 2017, Tonya enhanced her education by obtaining a continuing education certificate in Work Incentives Counseling from Cornell University. She gained this to support individuals whom obtain Social Security Disability Income(SSDI) and or Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) to understand that they can still work and maintain some if not all of their benefits. This certificate also allows her to be able to inform clients of how their Medicaid, Medicare and or Housing vouchers, if one, can be effected and or maintained well while working.
Tonya specializes in counseling individuals whom want to change their behaviors by utilizing various Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques. Tonya finds interest in assisting individuals to gain awareness of their problematic behavior. Through therapy, it is navigated and reconditioned by the person participating in therapy. Tonya believes once a person is aware and have the willingness to change, behavior can become modified through their own motivation.
Tonya founded and created Time For Change (TFC) because she has a dream to make an impact on youth and severely disabled adults in the Washington DC area. TFC was founded to contribute to the mission of ending chronic homelessness by breaking barriers for individuals in regards to employment; whether it is from their past behaviors, documented disability, and/or incarceration set-backs. TFC will also help and teach others how to effectively help in the field of Vocational Rehabilitation by providing training to other providers who want to be innovative to providing Evidence Based Supported Employment Services for unique population where traditional workforce services would not have worked for them in the past. Time For Change will build long-lasting relationships with employers to complete the mission of bringing about change in the community, by breaking barriers in employment for individuals who are disabled and vulnerable to disabilities. Tonya believes that the time to change is now. Time For Change.
Tonya Ridley is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Certified Work incentives Counselor and a Certified Employment Support Specialist. Tonya has experience working with individuals who are diagnosed with a physical, cognitive and/or mental disability. Tonya has worked with children, young, middle and elderly aged adults in schools and in all rehabilitation settings such as: Hospitals, Therapeutic Recreation, Psychiatric facilities (inpatient and outpatient), correctional detention facility or currently now, with chronically homeless individuals who were recently housed. Tonya holds many success stories of landing employment for individuals whom are not only trauma-informed but have also not worked in over a ten-year span of time. It is her belief that all citizens can be productive working citizens with the right supports put in place.
Tonya holds a firm place in trauma not directing lives. Tonya knows stress brings about the biologically vulnerability to mental and physical disorders. She educates others that without necessary supports in place, illness and even death can happened as a result of these vulnerabilities. Tonya holds a Masters of Science in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She has specialized knowledge in the medical psycho-social aspects of disability as it relates to work and has extensive years of experience working with persons whom have mental illnesses. She currently uses this knowledge to assess individuals and place them in the workforce with appropriate reasonable accommodations in place that she, her clients and her team identifies as a need.
In 2017, Tonya enhanced her education by obtaining a continuing education certificate in Work Incentives Counseling from Cornell University. She gained this to support individuals whom obtain Social Security Disability Income(SSDI) and or Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) to understand that they can still work and maintain some if not all of their benefits. This certificate also allows her to be able to inform clients of how their Medicaid, Medicare and or Housing vouchers, if one, can be effected and or maintained well while working.
Tonya specializes in counseling individuals whom want to change their behaviors by utilizing various Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques. Tonya finds interest in assisting individuals to gain awareness of their problematic behavior. Through therapy, it is navigated and reconditioned by the person participating in therapy. Tonya believes once a person is aware and have the willingness to change, behavior can become modified through their own motivation.
Tonya founded and created Time For Change (TFC) because she has a dream to make an impact on youth and severely disabled adults in the Washington DC area. TFC was founded to contribute to the mission of ending chronic homelessness by breaking barriers for individuals in regards to employment; whether it is from their past behaviors, documented disability, and/or incarceration set-backs. TFC will also help and teach others how to effectively help in the field of Vocational Rehabilitation by providing training to other providers who want to be innovative to providing Evidence Based Supported Employment Services for unique population where traditional workforce services would not have worked for them in the past. Time For Change will build long-lasting relationships with employers to complete the mission of bringing about change in the community, by breaking barriers in employment for individuals who are disabled and vulnerable to disabilities. Tonya believes that the time to change is now. Time For Change.
We would like to cordially congratulate our CEO for being awarded the 2022 "Community Pearl of the Year award” from Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Omicron Phi Zeta Chapter's Finer Womanhood committee! Salute Time For Change's CEO!
www.thecounselortonyaridley.com