We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Angie Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Angie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the best advice you’ve ever given to a client? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)
First and foremost, it is ultimately important to put on our own oxygen masks first. If we are not taking care of ourselves, we cannot take care of others. Many moons ago when I was in college, I read Covey’s book on 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In one specific chapter, he described the importance of finding balance in four key areas of our lives; physical well-being, emotional well-being, social well-being, and spiritual well-being. As a counselor, working with many diverse clients, I found the importance of creating a daily self-care plan where we can be more mindful and intentional on creating balance with those four areas. If we do not neglect or get consumed in any one of those areas, we are better able to find that balance and then feel more grounded with limited experiences of stress, anxiety, depression etc. That has been and continues to be the foundation to my practice professionally and personally.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello everyone! I am Dr. Angie Anderson and the founder of Serenity Counseling Center & Wellness in Virginia. I am a PhD in Counselor Education & Supervision, a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Collaborative Divorce Coach & Child Specialist, and a Certified Yoga Instructor. I have provided mental health therapy, coaching and yoga instruction to hundreds of clients.
As a counselor for over twenty years in diverse settings, I have personally adopted an integrative approach while utilizing a variety of therapeutic interventions and tools to best meet the needs of my clients. My intention is to bring to the session a theoretical recipe based upon person centered, existential, and cognitive behavioral ingredients. With an additional spirituality component, I hope to empower clients while practicing with an integrative model. With a person centered focus, the relationship is of the utmost importance providing authenticity, respect, and acceptance. Through an existential lens, clients are supported to acknowledge potential for self-awareness and given freedom to choose individual fate. At times, cognitive behavioral interventions challenge personal belief systems to create awareness on the think-feel-do cycle.
Respecting the importance of the unity of families and marriages, I developed a five session program “Making Love Last.” Through this program, I am dedicated to assisting families and couples with enhanced healthy communication and effective conflict resolution while maintaining mutual respect.
I am also collaboratively trained in helping families find balance and peace while going through a divorce. I will work with children as a Child Specialist to learn effective coping skills to deal with the changes in the family as they separate/divorce. I will also work with parents in developing healthy parenting plans to make the transition easier. With the adults going through a divorce, I serve as a Divorce Coach to help the individual cope and deal with the loss of the marriage and meet the client where they need to help the process be as amicable as possible.
Practicing yoga for over 20 years, I enjoy teaching yoga of all levels in a variety of settings. I love bringing my passion for yoga to many clients, teaching them to listen to their bodies & creating a space for each client to take their practice off the mat into their every day lives. I enjoy bringing private sessions or yoga classes to local companies and schools. Most importantly, I enjoy bringing wine yoga to local wineries. I am always looking for traveling yoga workshops.
Utilizing my PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, I have enjoyed branching out as a counselor educator and clinical supervisor. In this role, I passionately bring my experience of counseling to future counselors. Presently, I am an Affiliate Professor with Thomas University. In my counselor, educator role, I enjoy offering timely professional development to conferences and local organizations. I am always looking for opportunities all over the world to present my passion and hope to help others bring balance or learn interventions that can help alleviate stress in their every day lives.
My next big adventure this year includes writing my very own book! This book will be a journey for my female readers on learning healthy coping skills in a fun exciting way! It is with much anticipation that this exciting new outlet should be available by the end of the year! If you’re ready to have some fun, make sure you watch out for this upcoming extraordinary experience!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Originally, I went to college to become an English teacher. During my time at college, I was faced with a challenge of having a very difficult professor. He wanted us to write opinion papers, yet only if those papers matched his opinion. For those that know me, know that I am very opinionated! That did not go over very well with me as I really wanted to write my opinion! Hands follow the directions to the assignment. During that time, I was also taking a psychology class. I absolutely loved my teacher. This professor was fun, engaging, and really encouraged me to listen to my inner gut. I quickly changed my major from English to psychology. My dad was like what in the world are you ever going to do with a psychology degree. I didn’t know at the time yet knew that when I graduated with my bachelors of psychology, it really could only lead to continuing my education journey with a masters in counseling. Through the years of my counseling role, I sat in my office and listened to horror stories of what other counselors were doing. During this time, I had a client that was working on his PhD in another field and encouraged me to go back to school and get my PhD. Thankfully, I found a program that was a perfect match for me and I proceeded to get my PhD. I may never read another peer reviewed article again yet I am so thankful I got my PhD! In the long run, my journey ended up with me teaching despite my transition and I am ever so thankful for my counselor educator and supervisor role.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
As mentioned, previously, I went back to school after 20 years of being in the counseling field to become a counselor educator. At first, I sought my education at a local university. I was one of five to be invited in for an interview. After interviewing, I found out that I was the only part time Applicant. Ultimately I was denied. During that time I was not able to go to school more than part time because I was a single mom and a growing business owner. I knew that was the only route for me at that time. When I first got denied, I felt very rejected and frustrated. I am not a woman that technically and traditionally hears no. After I licked my wounds briefly, I started looking at alternative programs. I applied to a couple of online schools. I did not think I would like online yet hindsight 2020 is a wonderful thing. About a year after I started school, my ex-husband, whom I shared coparenting with moved out of the area and our roles shifted. I then became a single mom full-time. if I had gone to the original school, I probably would have had to drop out. Yet while I was working part time on my degree online, it allowed and provided me the opportunity to continue without much interruption. I was able to work on my papers and assignments after I put my daughter to bed. While this was quite a challenge for me, I am proud to say that I successfully achieved my ultimate goal. This part of the journey taught me many lessons of being flexible and to trust the process. We may encounter speed bumps, or even significant curves in our journey, yet it is important to be persistent and gentle and compassionate with ourselves throughout the entire process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.serenitycounselingcenterva.com
- Instagram: @dr.angieanderson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serenitycounselingcenter?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: Angela Anderson PhD
- Youtube: @dr.angieanderson869