(she/her)
Welcome! I am glad you are here. I am Ashton, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida, and dually licensed in Virginia as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). I am also a Registered Play Therapist and qualified to supervise clinicians in Florida and Virginia seeking licensure. I received a Bachelor in Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, majoring in Psychology, a Master's in Education from George Mason University, specializing in Community Agency Counseling, and a Ph.D in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University, specializing in Integrative Mental Health. My background consists of working in schools, communities, private practice, and non-profit sectors with children, teens, and young adults who are just in need of care and support, and who are open to discussing/implementing new tools to help with a variety of life circumstances. My specialities include play therapy, where I can help children aged 5-12 reconcile what is going on in their world and offer strategies for coping with tough ordeals experienced within the family, school, or community environments. I also love to incorporate mind, body, spirit practices via mindfulness, movement, art, yoga, imagery, sand tray, nature, and storytelling with clients who are dealing with symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress-related situations, changes/adjustments, familial concerns to help one connect intimately with self and identify what one needs to feel better and more equipped to respond to those needs. I look forward to our connection and working alongside you.
In our first session, we’ll start with introductions and housekeeping items. We will then shift to your opportunity to share your story and the specific challenges you are experiencing. This will help me create a plan with goals and objectives for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
As a helping professional, I strive to be person-centered, compassionate, and kind. One of my ultimate goals in therapy is to provide a safe space for you to become deeply attuned to self and your needs through active listening, reflections, and empathy.
I am best positioned to serve children, teens, adolescents, young adults, and adults 18-39.
Other specialties
I identify as
Supportive
As a supportive therapist, I intend to ensure that I can collaborate, brainstorm new ideas, and engage in a therapeutic partnership where there is a felt encouragement to commit to a self-desired change.
Strength-Based
As a strengths-based clinician, I value locating positive attributes in others and using those identified strengths to leverage improvement and solutions.
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation will include me sharing resources connected to themes discussed in sessions that will support continued exploration of important topics to you.
Play Therapy
As a play therapist, I use several play and creative tools to connect with children to encourage sharing their worlds.