Leslie is a highly skilled holistic psychotherapist with over 25 years of experience. She creates a safe and nurturing space for her clients to embark on their unique healing journeys. Specializing in Mindfulness-based Somatic Psychotherapy, Leslie focuses on helping her clients heal from traumatic memories and experiences, including attachment and childhood trauma.
She is also dedicated to working with Adult women with autism, a group that she has found to be often underdiagnosed and generally overlooked. Leslie’s desire is to educate both women and men with Autism about the condition and provide practical support that will help them overcome the challenges they face on a daily basis. Her skill, experience, and expertise lends itself well to those that have been diagnosed late in life which brings with it a unique set of challenges and therapeutic issues, including complicated grief and loss.
Using a wide range of techniques such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hakomi Therapy, and Pastoral Psychotherapy, Leslie offers a variety of services to her clients to support their healing process. These include empathic listening, comforting, and teaching skills like deep breathing, mindfulness, and self-compassion.
Leslie also uses a form of focused analysis with her clients to understand the influences of their past on present issues, helping them change maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns.
Leslie’s approach is centered around guiding her clients to be present in their somatic experience, while developing the capacity to trust that their own awareness will bring about the necessary changes for healing. To further enhance her work, Leslie maintains a personal practice of mindfulness and self-compassion which equips her to be emotionally available in every client session. If you’d like to learn more about Leslie’s therapy approach, visit: https://www.sunyataintegrativehealth.com/
Outside of her profession, Leslie enjoys spending time in nature, exploring the NC mountains with her husband, developing her artistic and writing skills, and traveling to places on her bucket list.
Experience:
- Master of Education in Counseling, Winthrop University – Rock Hill, SC
- Bachelors of Science degree in Biology, Salem College – Winston-Salem, NC
- Extensive clinical experience in a hospital setting and private practice treating adults with a wide variety of clinical mental health and behavioral issues.
- Training and Supervision through the Carolina Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training – Charlotte, NC. This program was an approved training program of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, AAPC.
- Certified Hakomi Therapist, C.H.T. Training received in Asheville, NC
- Advanced Training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy received in Washington, DC and Asheville, NC. Assistant to Level I Sensorimotor Psychotherapy training.
- Certified Spiritual Director, training received in Charlotte, NC through the Charlotte Spirituality Center
- Practicum and Internship done at Charlotte Rescue Mission/Rebound & Dove’s Nest – a 90-day residential treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction.
Areas of Expertise
- Trauma and PTSD
- Attachment and Childhood Trauma
- calming a stressed nervous system
- coping skills for stressful times
- Addiction
- Alcohol Use
- Anger Management
- Bipolar Disorder
- Chronic Pain
- Coping Skills
- Divorce
- Dual Diagnosis
- Grief
- Life Transitions
- Narcissistic Personality
- Relationship Issues
- Self Esteem
- Sleep or Insomnia
- Spirituality
- Substance Use
- Adult Autism
For more information about how Leslie works in therapy, and to read some of her Blog Posts, Click Here: https://www.sunyataintegrativehealth.com