Welcome! My name is Liz.

I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate and I specialize in working with children, adolescents, parents, and primary caregivers. I have a background in teaching and experience working with children ages 2-16, my role as a parent contributes to my natural ability to establish trust, and effectively work with the younger population whether it is with a child/teenager directly or with a family member. I work primarily from a person-centered approach which emphasizes the relationship between counselor and client as the most important factor to a successful counseling process. Each individual is wholly unique and is the expert of their own life experience. My job as a counselor is to provide as much or as little guidance toward the client’s personal goals to reach their definition of their ideal self. With this mindset as the foundation of each session as well as my natural inclination to incorporate my sense of humor, I work with my clients to explore and utilize techniques from other more directive approaches that could be useful to them. I utilize a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), and mindfulness. When working with young children, I use child-centered play therapy as I truly believe "play is a child's natural language. I have experience working with clients navigating anxiety, depression, attachment disruptions, trauma, self-harm and suicidal ideation, adjustment disorders, ADHD, and eating disorders. My educational background is reflective of my journey to the counseling field.

 

I first graduated from Wofford College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in French. I came to Charlotte to begin my first graduate school experience and received my Master of Education at Queens University. I taught elementary school in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system for 10 years before deciding to pivot towards counseling in 2019. I found that I was more devoted to my students’ emotional and mental successes than academic ones, and unfortunately, being in the classroom wasn’t conducive to nurturing those skills. I began the Masters of Counseling program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and received my degree in December of 2022 with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health and Play Therapy.

 

The fact that you’ve read this far shows a dedication to getting resources for help for yourself or your child. Seeking out counseling is a sign of great strength, not weakness. Regardless of age, therapy is simply a tool to help meet life’s (many…many!) challenges with greater understanding and better coping skills. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!