Welcome, I’m Whitney!
(she/her/hers pronouns) I’m a psychologist (LPA) based in Boone, currently offering telehealth in North Carolina. I have experience and success helping people alleviate anxiety and depression using evidence-based treatments. I have a naturally curious, somewhat obsessive mind which fuels a fire beneath things I do.
Background and Experience
My early career path includes: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting => staff auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLC => financial assistant for a global hedge fund => accountant for several design-build companies. I value the experience from this time of my life, but it wasn’t the right career for me. I longed for more intellectual and creative fulfillment.
From 2013-2016, I attended graduate school at Appalachian State University’s Clinical Psychology M.A. program and devoured the knowledge and experience that was available to me. I trained at App State’s Counseling Center, App State’s Psychology Clinic, and the Assessment, Support and Counseling (ASC) Center, a school-based mental health program that provides free services to students and conducts clinical research. During my internship, I worked to establish a permanent site supervisor position at the clinic at Ashe County High School and I’ve been working in the role ever since.
I love my work and I’m good at it. Over the past 5 years, I have worked with individuals and families with concerns that include depression, anxiety, social difficulties, body image disturbance/eating concerns, grief, sexual trauma, attention difficulties, minority stress (related to gender identity, sexual orientation or racial discrimination), substance abuse, anger and emotional difficulties, self-harming and suicidal behaviors. I have conducted or supervised 300+ risk assessments and been a part of several postvention teams that provided grief support to a community following a death by suicide.
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My Approach
My work is grounded in “Third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT),” most notably Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Third wave CBT refers to a set of emerging psychotherapies that focuses less on eliminating difficult thoughts, emotions and experiences and in favor of strengthening our ability to handle them. Both ACT and DBT use mindfulness and acceptance strategies to help people strengthen their ability to handle pain and expands the range of responses and experiences we can have in our lives. These treatments have a strong base of empirical support for helping people cope with a variety of clinical problems.
Additionally, I use a “here and now” framework (aka Clinical Behavior Analysis or Functional Analytic Psychotherapy) with my my clients. Research on social connection suggests that the quality of our relationships is central to psychological well-being and the relationship between the client and therapist is a powerful tool for transforming psychological difficulties. The problems that you are seeking help for are likely to manifest in the therapy room which provides a unique opportunity for change.
I reject the myth of healthy normality that suggests that if someone is depressed or anxious they are abnormal or are fundamentally flawed. The disease-based model of psychological disorders has not withstood scientific scrutiny. Psychological problems are real, manifest in both the mind and body, and they are better conceptualized as persistent states rather than permanent traits. Click here to learn more
You and only you know what is most important, meaningful and feasible in your life. I have an expertise in contemporary psychology; you are the expert on your life, your history and what you want out of your future. You can think of me as your coach, your consultant or maybe an irreverent anti-guru. I don’t have all the answers and I won’t pretend to.
Psychotherapy has come a long way in recent decades. It is very exciting to practice psychology in an era in which the scientific community has provided clinicians with flexible, evidence-based tools that alleviate human suffering. I feel so fortunate to spend my days engaged in work that matters so deeply to myself and others.