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Eleanor Whitaker
Resident in Counseling
License #0704-018928
Hello and welcome. Thanks for being here.
Paulo Coelho wrote "The more in harmony with yourself you are, the more joyful you are." At its most basic level, therapy is about connection and expansion. My goal as a counselor is to build a collaborative relationship with you based on warmth, trust, safety, and hope. Because each client, and each client’s story, is unique, a psychodynamic approach is often the most useful.
What this means is that there are many different modalities that can help people feel better. Sometimes we have to take it in steps, calming the nervous system before we can understand why we think and act the way we do. The goal of therapy is to diminish suffering, improve coping skills, broaden perspectives, and increase the degree of joy in your life.
In therapy, I gravitate towards emotion focused, trauma informed, strength based, and solution focused modalities. Counseling should ultimately empower us, and I believe in de-pathologizing the client. I am interested in Internal Family Systems therapy, somatic therapy (including voice), and polyvagal theory. I am a proponent of culturally sensitive therapy as well as mindfulness and believe it is important that we intentionally communicate with, and nourish, our nervous systems. I also believe in the importance of dreams.
Experience
Counseling is an evolution for me. During my work as a nurse practitioner, I knew patients' wellness was composed of many factors, including social, spiritual, occupational, financial, emotional, etc., but there was never time to address all of their concerns. While our healthcare system is challenging at best, it’s been wonderful to see the progress of neuroscientific research that proves what we have long intuitively known—that emotional pain can be trapped in the body—and to simultaneously learn more about neuroplasticity. This is an innate capacity in all of us, as it offers an additional way to address difficulties both past and present.
Before becoming a counselor, I have also worked as a teacher with preschool, elementary, and middle school children and adolescents. I am committed to child-centered play therapy and meeting children where they are. For both children and adults, I believe group work can be a powerful source of healing.
I obtained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the College of William & Mary. I also hold a Master’s Degree in Nursing from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. from Centre College.
Interests
My counseling interests include grief and loss, trauma, women's issues, the LGBTQIA+ matters, parenting, anxiety, depression, religious issues, and life transitions. I received training in EMDR trauma-informed therapy through Thrive, and somatic training and mindfulness-based therapies through Linda Thai, LMSW.
Additional Interests
When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family, friends, and animals, listening to music, reading and writing poetry, gardening, playing games, traveling, being outdoors (which sometimes means planting trees on the sly), and watching futbol.
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