Trauma-Informed Therapy for Adults

 I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in couples counseling and counseling for tees and adults in the LGBTQ+ community. 

I have served the mental health community for over 12 years. I have experience treating those with anxiety, depression, trauma history, behavioral issues, and addiction, among other areas. I specialize in individual, family, and couples therapy, including those in the LGBTQ+ arena, as well as provide specialized therapy for children and adolescents. Mental health is never an area of your life that should be overlooked or discounted. Therapy is an important, personal, and unique journey for each client. It is my goal to tailor personal goals for each individual and their specific needs.

My therapeutic belief centers around a solution-focused, strength-based approach in order to enhance skills and facilitate change needed to gain personal growth. It is my mission to provide my clients with the utmost respect in an open and comfortable therapeutic environment.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Florida and Alabama with a particular interest in women-specific treatment, education on healthy family relationships, treatment of inter-generational trauma, and antenatal and post-postpartum support. The treatment modalities that I utilize most often are Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and the Gottman Method. I also have special training in infant feeding, safe sleep practices, and infant crying. When I started out as a therapist, my work and academic pursuits focused on treating stress responses and traumatic events. Current mental health research has shown that symptoms like depression and anxiety do not come out of nowhere and these symptoms are associated with life changes and stressors. When I had my first child, I was shocked with the sleep deprivation, ongoing feedings, and daily changes in my own life and body. It was at this point where I decided to seek training in maternal mental health, understanding how these life changes affect new moms and their relationship with their children, spouses, and themselves. I look forward to working with all individuals and family structures and assisting in the adjustments to parenthood so that everyone can focus on the primary purpose of family--to love and be loved.  

I am a Marriage and Family Therapy Associate in the state of Alabama, supervised under Lisa Smith, LMFT. I am a native of Mobile, Alabama, and I am  thrilled to join Leslie Herhold Counseling Services. I graduated in September 2021 with a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Human Behavior. I enjoy working with children, adolescents, couples, and families. My ultimate goal is to provide clients with a safe, supportive environment that supports the whole person, mind, body, soul, and spirit. I work from a solution-focused, collaborative approach supporting clients to be the author of their own lives. I also have a Graduate Certificate in Systemic Couple and Family Therapy from Capella University and I am a member of AAMFT. I live in Fairhope, Alabama, with my husband, Dwayne, and son Dean. I love to read, write, and fish in my spare time with my family.