12 years of experience
Hello! My name is Ashley Mills and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) providing mental health therapy to individuals, couples, adults, children and families. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for both my bachelor's degree and my master's degree, the later with honors. I focus working with people with anxiety disorders, depression, difficulty coping with changes, and relationship issues. I specialize working with people on the Autism Spectrum.
In our first session together we can start with introductions, background information and process any issues that you would like to discuss.
One of my greatest strengths is empathy. I try to put myself in the client's "shoes". I have a lot of experience which has helped me with empathy. Before I began my practice I worked in emergency departments at hospitals providing mental health intake, evaluations, and recommendations. I worked at the Department of Social Services for 8 years, Developmental Disabilities department in another county, Crisis Assistance Ministries, and several other mental health organizations.
I specialize working with people on the Autism Spectrum and people who have learning disabilities. I started working at group homes with people with a dual diagnosis in the late 90's, then as a therapist gained more training and knowledge.
My practice is focused on the application of Cognitive Behavior Therapy techniques based on the relationships between how we think is directly related to what we do and that is directly related to how we feel. Mental health therapy often includes discussing unpleasant aspects of life such as sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness and helplessness. Through Cognitive Behavior Therapy a client can get through emotionally difficult times in their life with more clarity, understanding, focus and a more positive outlook with their life