Mary Emily Leavell Counseling

I received my doctorate from the University of Holy Cross and my Master of Education from Southeastern Louisiana University.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Registered Play Therapist.
My experience is derived from years of working in psychiatric hospitals, agencies, university counseling centers, children's advocacy centers, and private practices.
This combination of settings has prepared and led me to open my own counseling private practice so that I can reach people of all ages, needs, and histories who need help and healing.

I offer individual psychotherapy, family therapy, play therapy, consultations, and parenting sessions.
I work with a variety of populations, including children (2-18), adolescents, young adults, and adults.
I've received specialized training in trauma-informed approaches, play therapy, art therapy, cognitive therapy, and brain/body approaches.
The opportunities I've experienced while training have provided me a basis to work with a wide variety of clients and issues.
I believe in practicing from a trauma informed approach, as all humans experience traumas throughout their lives.

Individual psychotherapy provides an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and feelings in a private setting with an involved, caring, and objective professional.
Exploring confusing and perhaps painful interpersonal and emotional experiences in this setting can provide new perspectives that lead to productive change.
Many of us have unexamined experiences and meanings about ourselves and other people that create difficulties in life.
A process of psychotherapeutic exploration can highlight the potentials for positive change in how we think, feel, and interact, break into unconscious cycles, and release our potential to have power and control in our lives.

Parents often wonder how they can reach, help, teach, and understand their child.
Whether your child has experienced a life trauma or is simply having difficulty at home, school, or in relationships, play therapy is the means in which your child can heal.
Simply, play is the child's language.
Play expands self-expression, self-knowledge, self-actualization, and self-efficacy.
Play relieves feelings of stress, connects people to a positive way, stimulates creative thinking and exploration, regulates our emotions, and boosts our ego.

Everyone experiences traumas throughout life.
In a general sense, trauma results when you experience excessive stress that overwhelms your mind and body's ability to cope.
Emotional wounds from an event can pervade one's sense of self, safety, and feelings of control.
Psychological trauma can last for many years if left untreated, and can create devastating effects in one's life.
Traumatic experiences can produce emotional, cognitive, and physical repercussions.
Emotionally, trauma survivors can become anxious, depressed, fearful, and withdrawn.