Felicia Avery
I am a trusting, dependable, and deeply honest therapist who believes therapy should be a collaborative partnership, not a rigid lecture. In our sessions, you will find a dedicated, good listener who provides a steady, safe space where you can drop the mask and be entirely yourself. My approach is active and practical rather than mysterious. I blend psychoeducation with evidence-based tools like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This means we will look at how your thoughts influence your mood, learn to accept the things you cannot control, and commit to actions that align with what truly matters to you. Change can be intimidating, so I also bring in Motivational Interviewing to help you tap into your own internal drive and build the confidence to move forward. My ideal clients are adults navigating anxiety, depression, or stressful life transitions. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed by a major life shift, stuck in a cycle of heavy thoughts, or simply feel like you lack the coping skills to handle daily stressors, I am here to help. Together, we will build a dependable toolkit of real-world skills so you can navigate life's uncertainties with clarity and confidence.
First session
Your first session with me is all about taking a deep breath and letting the dust settle. We won't try to fix everything in the first 50 minutes, and you don't need to have a perfect script of what's wrong. First, we will focus on comfort and connection. We'll chat casually so you can get a true feel for my style and ensure we are a great fit. Second, we will map out your current landscape. We’ll look at the specific career transitions, anxiety loops, or adulting stressors that brought you through my door. Finally, you will leave with a clear roadmap. We will establish your personalized goals and highlight a few immediate, baseline coping skills you can use right away. You’ll walk away not just feeling deeply heard and understood, but with a dependable sense of clarity about exactly where we are going next.
Strengths
What makes my therapeutic approach stand out is that I completely demystify the therapy process. I don't believe therapy should be a 'black box' where I sit back, nod, and keep my insights to myself. Instead, I treat our sessions as a transparent, active partnership. First, I use psychoeducation to hand the blueprint back to you. I will teach you how your brain responds to anxiety and depression so you can stop blaming yourself and start understanding your patterns. Second, my approach strikes a unique balance between radical acceptance and practical action. By blending CBT and ACT, we will work together to accept the messy, uncomfortable realities of major life and career transitions, while actively building concrete coping skills for the things you can control. Finally, through Motivational Interviewing, I don't dictate your path—I help you unearth your own values and internal drive. Ultimately, my approach stands out because you leave every single session not just feeling 'heard,' but armed with deep self-awareness and a tangible game plan for tomorrow morning.
Ideal clients
I best serve adults navigating anxiety, depression, and major life or career transitions. My ideal client is someone navigating the unique pressures of emerging adulthood who feels stuck, overwhelmed, or uncertain about their next steps. You are looking for a trusting, dependable space to unpack your stress, but you are also ready to be active in your healing—learning the psychoeducation behind your patterns and walking away with practical CBT and ACT coping skills to regain control of your life.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
If you’ve ever felt completely paralyzed by a stressful career change or found yourself trapped in a midnight spiral of 'I’m failing at adulthood,' you have experienced the powerful connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. That intersection is exactly where Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) comes in. I don't use CBT as a rigid, one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, as your therapist, I use it as a collaborative lens to help you reclaim control over your anxiety and depression. Here is what that actually looks like in our sessions: Identifying the Automatic 'Brain Bullies': When you are navigating massive life transitions, your brain naturally defaults to worst-case scenarios. Together, we will pinpoint your automatic, self-critical thoughts (like 'I can't handle this' or 'I'm trapped') and look at them objectively. Fact-Checking Your Internal Narratives: Anxious thoughts feel like absolute facts, but they usually aren't. I will provide a trusting, honest space where we can step back, examine the actual evidence, and gently reframe those heavy thoughts into perspectives that are realistic and empowering. Building a Real-World Coping Toolkit: We won't just sit and talk about your thoughts; we are going to change what you do. We will map out concrete behavioral coping skills—like breaking down overwhelming career decisions into bite-sized steps or practicing grounding techniques—so you can manage panic and depression in real-time. Bridging the Gap Between Sessions: The real magic of CBT happens outside the therapy room. We will collaborate on small, manageable 'experiments' or action steps for you to try during your week. This ensures you are actively building dependable habits and testing out your new tools in the real world.
Motivational Interviewing
When you are facing a major career change or trying to find your footing in emerging adulthood, it is completely normal to feel deeply stuck. You might want to make a change, but a wave of anxiety, depression, or self-doubt keeps pinning you in place. This feeling of being torn is called ambivalence, and it is exactly why I use Motivational Interviewing (MI) . Motivational Interviewing is not about me giving you advice, lecturing you, or telling you how to live your life. Instead, it is a conversational, collaborative tool designed to help you unearth your own internal drive. Here is what that looks like in our sessions: No Judgment, Just Exploration: I provide an incredibly safe, trusting, and honest space. We will lay out all of your options—even the scary ones—without any pressure. We will talk openly about the pros and cons of making a change versus staying exactly where you are. Evoking Your Inner Strengths: You already possess the wisdom and resilience needed to navigate this transition, even if anxiety has made you forget that. My job as a dedicated, good listener is to ask the right questions that pull your unique strengths, values, and past successes back to the surface. Aligning Choices with Your True Values: We will look closely at what actually matters to you—not what your parents, your boss, or society says you 'should' do. We will use MI to connect your daily choices to your personal definition of a meaningful life. Building Confidence at Your Own Pace: Change cannot be forced. Through gentle, supportive dialogue, we will break down your goals into tiny, achievable steps. We will work together to shift your internal narrative from 'I don't know if I can do this' to 'I know exactly why this matters to me, and I’m ready to try.' Ultimately, I use Motivational Interviewing because the most lasting, powerful changes are the ones you decide to make. I am here to help you clear away the mental clutter so you can confidently step into the driver's seat of your own life.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
When you are navigating anxiety, depression, or a massive career shift, your mind is usually stuck in a time machine. It is either racing into the future spinning worst-case scenarios or trapped in the past replaying old regrets. This mental exhaustion is why I weave mindfulness into our sessions—not as a vague cliché, but as a practical, brain-based anchor. Mindfulness with me doesn't mean you have to sit in silence, twist into pretzels, or completely empty your brain. Instead, it is about building a dependable habit of pausing and noticing what is happening right now, without judging yourself for it. Here is what that looks like in our work: Slowing Down the Panic Response: When anxiety spikes during a major life transition, your body goes into overdrive. I will teach you simple, real-world grounding techniques and breathing exercises that you can discreetly use at your desk, before a big interview, or in the middle of a stressful day to calm your nervous system instantly. Creating Distance from Heavy Thoughts: By blending mindfulness with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), I'll help you learn to notice your self-critical thoughts without immediately believing them. Instead of getting swept away by a wave of depression or worry, you will learn to watch the wave pass, acknowledging it without letting it control your actions. Dropping the Self-Judgment: Emerging adults carry a massive weight of 'shoulds'—I should be further along, I should be happier, I should know what I'm doing. Mindfulness teaches you to observe these heavy expectations with curiosity rather than criticism. Reclaiming Your Daily Focus: When you learn to bring your attention back to the present moment, you stop burning all your energy on things you cannot control. This frees up your mental bandwidth so you can focus on the actual, real-life choices right in front of you. Ultimately, I use mindfulness as a tangible coping skill to help you build a more trusting, steady relationship with your own mind. It is about helping you quiet the external noise so you can tune into what you genuinely need to move forward.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Serves
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Licensed in
- North CarolinaLicense C010627