Therapists for college students near Durham, NC

Handspring is a modern mental health clinic that provides personalized, evidence-based behavioral care for young people. We currently serve individuals who are looking for treatment for anxiety, depression, or behavioral difficulties. Our therapeutic approaches include CBT, DBT, organizational skills training, behavior therapy, exposure & response prevention, and parent management training.

It can be a challenge to find your center or balance when everything around you seems to be out of your control. Things are happening so fast and it can be scary. Searching for your true self in a world that adds filters to glamorize everyday life is a struggle. It can be difficult to find the balance between assertiveness, passiveness, honesty and consideration. Therapy is a space that is yours to discover answers to the questions that keep you up at night or cause you to overthink an "awkward" encounter with someone. Therapy is a safe and confidential space to explore who you are; to name, understand and better manage emotions. Take the opportunity to seek growth in your personal, professional, academic and/or romantic life. We can identify reasonable boundaries and coping strategies that support your mental and emotional well-being. You can let go of feeling misunderstood, underestimated, unseen or lost. Because you are worthy. So, let's find your light together. It is hard to trust a stranger to take this journey with you; therapists are special kind of people. Our job is to help others and provide a space that is nurturing to your needs. You deserve to take advantage of that. I invite you to call or send an email anytime. We can schedule a free consultation to help determine if I am the right fit for you.

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Jackie Quartuccio, LCSWA is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate in North Carolina. She graduated with her Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Before receiving her graduate degree, Jackie spent time working for a non-profit alongside single mothers seeking family preservation services and studying psychology for her undergraduate degree. Jackie believes so passionately that counseling can be a helpful and healing process for those who seek such help. When Jackie was a teenager, she sought counseling herself and was able to identify her feelings and process them in a healthy way. This positive therapeutic experience drove her decision to go into the counseling field and sparked her passion to help those who find themselves in with similar negative thought patterns. Jackie strives to use various counseling modes to allow space for healing, growth, and freedom. True change can influence your physical, emotional, and relational health. She will work with you and/or your family to create a counseling plan focused on decreasing symptoms and improving quality of life. She enjoys building relationships with children, adults and couples.

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When you're struggling with an eating disorder, anxiety, or depression, the idea of opening up and trusting another person can be HARD. I know that you've likely heard so many messages throughout your life about what you should do and who you should be, but I don't think that "shoulds" have a place in therapy. Who do you WANT to be? How do you WANT to feel? That is way more important than any shoulds, and I would be honored to walk alongside you as you start to find answers to these questions over time. Together, we can unravel those expectations - what you've been told it means to be healthy or successful or fill in the blank - and get to the heart of what really matters to you and what you need. Being a human is messy, and as your therapist, I'll be right there in that space with you as a human first, therapist second. Let's explore what it means to be humans in a world that expects perfection (which doesn't exist!) and pushes you to grind until you're too burned out to do the things you actually want to do. Whether you realize it today or not, you deserve peace. I have many tools in my toolbox to support you, but to me the most important thing I can do is to provide you a safe space to explore your experience in its entirety at your own pace - to build a connection that is strong enough for you to know that I won't judge you or make you bad or wrong for how you are feeling or for using certain behaviors to cope. It's what you've known to do up to this point, so let's put our heads together and find the ways that this has made sense so we can look at it from a place of compassion instead of judgment. This is a shame-free space! I hold a special place in my heart for those who are working towards eating disorder recovery who feel like they aren't sick enough because their body size, race, sexuality, or gender identity don't match what they are seeing on social media under the eating disorder hashtags. All identities are welcome here, and no matter what your circumstances, your concerns are valid, you ARE sick enough, and you deserve compassionate, equitable care. If anything I've said here makes you think "I like her vibe," please don't hesitate to reach out. I would love to chat further about what it would look like for us to work together.

Do you feel like you’re in a constant race to attain goals and standards, but it leaves you stressed, burnt out and feeling inadequate? Do you struggle feeling valuable apart from what you produce or do for others? Are negative beliefs about yourself interfering in your relationships? I help college aged folks and young adults develop a healthy sense of identity and worth and navigate the world with more mental flexibility. I am here to help you reframe negative beliefs, cultivate healthier thought patterns and work through unresolved relational pain to manage your life experiences well.

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Carolina Counseling currently has two therapists that use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help individuals understand how their feelings, thoughts and behaviors are all connected. They both listen without judging and offer a safe place where you can come and share whatever is needed. One therapist offers a Christian perspective if desired.

Hey there! 🎓 As a seasoned therapist with a decade of experience, my mission is to help college students like you navigate the ups and downs of university life. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or dealing with challenges like anxiety, substance use, or transitions, I've got your back. I specialize in evidence-based approaches like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to tailor solutions that fit your unique journey. College can be a rollercoaster, and I'm here to provide the support you need to conquer those hurdles and thrive. Let's work together to transform any negative patterns and bring back that sense of connection and engagement in your college experience. Your goals are my priority, and I'm all about creating a safe, comfortable space where you feel truly understood. Ready to conquer college life? Let's chat! 🌟

I offer a safe and compassionate space for students to find healing, guidance, and peace through therapy grounded in Christian principles. Whether you're navigating life’s challenges, managing anxiety or depression, or seeking spiritual growth, it is my honor to come along side to support you every step of the way. I combine trusted therapeutic techniques with faith-based insights to help you find strength in your journey toward emotional and spiritual well-being. I am passionate about helping those I work with to experience healing, hope, and renewal, drawing on the power of power of God’s love and truth to restore your mind, body, and spirit.

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*Test anxiety? *Speaking and presentations seem impossible? *Looking for finally getting underneath and controlling your anxiety? ----Want to get underneath your feeling of angst, stress and uneasiness? I teach ways to reset and grow a nervous system that is able to find calm and relax even with time deadlines and performances. I help you create new habits that foster a positive, calm, productivity mindset. I use cutting-edge modern scientifically proven methods, along with, ancient powerful self-care methods that help people re-program sensitive nervous systems. I started her career as a Cognitive Behavioral therapist and over the last 25 years learned powerful methods to help clients make powerful changes on the moment. Many people I work with say the methods I teach seem too simple to work. I have found when people begin to use them regularly, they notice that other areas of their life begin to change as well. My focus is helping clients with Profoundly Simple selfcare that helps people thrive. Clients who see results commit to 5-10 minutes of using the skills we use in sessions in their everyday lives. This way they reset their baseline levels of tension and increase energy, cakm, and focus. I also have Calm and Centered Success groups that begin in September and January for applying skills in a more community setting with support and encouragement from others to make lastng life changes. If interested, text me, and we can set up a time to chat for free on the phone for about 15 min 508-812-8782. I am in-network for Aetna, Blue Cross of NC, and some Optum United Healthcare Plans. For others, I have a sliding scale to help make sessions work for you.

Enrolling to college really does feel like being thrown to the wolves. While supports exist, navigating those can feel overwhelming. Let's navigate them together and to support who you are genuinely are.

Melissa Sisco, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with 18 years of clinical experience. She is best known for her expertise in trauma recovery, aggression management, healthy sexuality, and systems of identity. She has a special interest in providing services for first responders and people with exposure to systems of aggression (sexual oppression, domestic violence, war, civil unrest) as well as communities of control (gangs, cults, unhealthy families). Clinically, Dr. Sisco operates primarily from a cognitive behavioral framework; however, she may shift strategies if an alternate modality is identified by clinical trials as the more effective treatment corresponding to a given diagnosis. Primary skillsets include: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Mindfulness-based Interventions, Guided Self-Hypnosis Training, Systematic Desensitization Therapy, Harm Reduction, and Brief Strategic Family Systems Therapy (BSFT), Insight-Oriented Therapy, and Reality Therapy. She has also engaged in mentorship/coaching, positive psychology, play therapy, and animal assisted therapeutic services. When working with Dr. Sisco, you will always be greeted with a sincere warmth and concern for your well-being. She “shoots from the hip” in a nonjudgmental way to help embrace personal truths and build the glory after the challenge. You will also notice that she can switch gears to hear you in the moment when a quiet presence is needed and help guide you towards answers when the time is right to address the problems. She will honor and respect your time schedule and your definition of clinical goals. She will accept you as you are and help you see the wonder in yourself while learning to navigate the struggles that we all face. Dr. Sisco’s experience and training has led her to four fundamental beliefs about all individuals: (1) We all have basic human drives, private desires, insecurities, ascribed identity, and an ongoing personal narrative that drive our interaction with the world. (2) Seemingly unimportant decisions lead to habits which cascade into life-changing results. (3) We all experience jilting traumas that alter us in some fashion. (4) We can all be well, whole people who love, are loved, and add value to the world. Specialties Dr. Sisco provides individual, couples, family, and group therapy, as well as clinical supervision. Throughout her career, she has worked with a variety of clinical populations, such as: first responders, healthcare workers, those in forensic settings, trauma survivors, sexual and violent offenders, those in substance abuse recovery, individuals experiencing severe mental illness, adults and children on the Autism Spectrum, adults and children diagnosed with Intellectual Developmental Disorders (IDD), parents of troubled children and teens, refugees, military Veterans, individuals with gang involvement, survivors of war crimes, and marginalized communities. Dr. Sisco’s skillset includes: assessment, report writing, case management, therapeutic sessions, administration, supervision, program development and evaluation, empirical standardization and manual development and implementation, crisis response, and community repair. She specializes in treating Mood Disorders (Depressive Disorders, Bipolar Disorder), Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety Disorders, Panic Disorder and Specific Phobias, anger and aggression, relationship problems, issues related to sexuality, gender transition and identity, addictions, stress and adjustment, personality disorders, weight loss, and smoking cessation, evaluation for bariatric surgery, and transplant preparation. Education and Training Dr. Sisco graduated in 2011 with a joint PhD in Clinical Psychology and Psychology, Policy, and Law with a minor specialty in Program Evaluation and Research Methodology from the University of Arizona. During this time, she participated in teaching, grant writing, providing research and statistical support, engaging in case review of civil and criminal cases regarding undue influence, working in clinical settings and supervising others in clinical settings. In addition, she aided in designing and implementing the first restorative justice program in the US, addressing date rapes on campus with Dr. Mary P. Koss of the R.E.S.T.O.R.E. project. She designed modified treatment curriculums for special populations of sex offenders (brain injured and developmentally delayed as well as female sex offenders) that were implemented in the Arizona Department of Corrections in 2013. She was also an integral part of building one of the first therapeutic mentorship programs designed to service foster-care youth with behavioral challenges with Dr. Julie Feldman. She worked most closely with her major advisor, Dr. Judith Becker, best known for her work on the Jeffrey Dahmer and Green River Killer cases. In her spare time, Dr. Sisco delighted in rehabilitating aggressive animals, predominantly horses and dogs, to provide hope for their rehoming. Dr. Sisco was selected for predoctoral internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, Trauma-Specific Track. During her internship, she specialized in trauma-response care in emergency medical settings, outreach to high-risk, marginalized urban youth and their families during and after violence exposure, and identifying susceptibility to recruitment in terroristic and gang-related organizations due to community trauma. During her off time, she began training as a boxer and fell back into her roots of youth mentorship due to the engagement she experienced while training. She built a mentorship program for youth in crisis, BoutIt Mentorship program, specifically designed and implemented for youth housed in a crisis shelter. Participants in the program learned how to cope effectively with intensive trauma, aggression, and mental health diagnoses. In her work as a clinical consultant, Dr. Sisco provided education to the International Court of Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the psychology of serial sexual assault during wartime. Dr. Sisco served as a professor at Roosevelt University for many years, as well as a forensic adjunct at the Chicago Professional School of Psychology. It was at this point that she incorporated Animal Assisted Therapy into her services; she delighted in seeing her clients and students find peace and release from being in the presence of her therapy dog. In 2017, Dr. Sisco returned to North Carolina, where she worked as a senior psychologist at Broughton State Hospital in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. While there, she worked with people who suffered with severe, debilitating mental illness and aided in a state shift to positive psychology and universal acknowledgements of strengths as opposed to illness. Dr. Sisco has published predominantly regarding systems of intimacy and violence. She has worked with many different populations including: persons struggling with addictions, veterans, inmates, international tribunals of war, psychiatric inpatients, families with marital and/or parenting concerns, sexual and domestic violence aggressors and victims, at risk youth, gangs, homeless, refugees, exonerees from capital cases, youth on the autism spectrum, people with severely and profound developmental delay, people with serious mental illness, people classified as serious violent predators, First Responders, police de-escalation teams, survivors of homicide/suicide of a loved one, and, of course, students and community members struggling with daily stressors. Additional Trainings Dr. Sisco has extensive training in Applied Behavioral Analysis, Multicultural Sensitivity, and Crisis Intervention Training. She is also well-versed in a variety of neuropsychological assessment batteries and engages in report writing for forensic and clinical purposes. Professional Membership American Psychological Association North Carolina Psychological Association National Register of Health Service Psychologists

We all have moments in our lives when we need support. Especially during these challenging times, meeting life’s demands is tough. Feeling stuck might be preventing you from moving forward and living your best life. You may be feeling overwhelmed, and it may seem like you’re facing more stress than you can handle. Therapy can give you the tools to get through life’s many challenges. It can offer you a way to let go of suffering, provide a sense of well-being, and allow you to learn, grow, and thrive despite what you’re facing. Making the decision to begin therapy is a healthy step toward making positive changes and moving toward creating the life you want for yourself. I have been trained in a variety of evidence-based practices, but since each person is unique, I will tailor my approach to your specific needs. My most important goal when we meet will be to create a safe, non-judgmental space for you to work toward healing, growth, improved self-awareness, and feeling good about yourself. Due to my background and experiences, I would especially enjoy the opportunity to work with nontraditional students, first-generation students, and international students. Please contact me today for your free initial 20-minute phone conversation. I look forward to hearing from you!

I see you as a whole person—not a problem to fix. In our work together, I honor your identity and abilities while also acknowledging the very real barriers, exhaustion, and inequities you may encounter every day. My goal is to support you in navigating a world that isn’t always built with you in mind—without asking you to erase or override who you are. I am committed to providing Neuro- and LGBTQ+ affirming therapy on your terms and to meet you where you are. Whether you struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, focus and concentration, relationships, life transitions, or just being a human in the world today, you are welcome here--all of you. Let down the mask and lets figure out how to feel better together!

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I welcome and affirm all expressions of identity by treating every client with respect and unconditional positive regard. My practice is LGBTQ supportive and affirming 🏳️‍🌈. I do my best to hold a non-judgmental space where my clients feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings without fear or judgement. I believe that the client-therapist relationship is foundational to effective therapy. You and I will work together to understand and identify problems and find actionable solutions that fit your unique situation.

We are all faced with the challenges through the journey of finding purpose, fulfillment and identity. You might feel like you are being stretched in a million different directions right now. Maybe you are having difficulty making the "right" decision about your job, your friendships, or your romantic relationships. Perhaps stress, anxiety or depression is getting in the way of bringing your true self to your interactions and performance. If you've found yourself reading through this page, then perhaps there is a part of you that is ready to explore a different way of living. And yes, it is possible. ​ Please continue reading to learn about the therapeutic services offered and how to begin your healing journey. Hi! My name is Erica Barton and I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. I received my BA in Psychology at UNC-Charlotte and my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at UNC-Charlotte, as well. I have worked in private practice over 5 years, as well as in-patient treatment centers; specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders, OCD, eating disorders and/or depression. The clientele I see ranges from age 10 through the life span. Although my specialties are listed above, I also have experience and education in these categories: codependent relationships, life transitions, peer relationships, social issues/concerns/advocacy, sexual abuse, stress management, marital issues, family conflict, relationship issues, emotional regulation and emotional disturbances. My experience allows me to understand the best ways to address each client’s needs in an effective manner. I am flexible in my approach and use collaboration as the basis of my therapy. Browse my services and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions/concerns.