Welcome to
Life Works Professional Counseling
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Crystal Myers
Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC, EdS
As a non-traditional student, I received a BS in Psychology from Bridgewater College, a small liberal arts college in Virginia. My dedication to my studies and my passion to learn the science and biology of psychology was recognized by my professors who awarded me the Donald R. Witters, PhD, Psychology Department Outstanding Academic Achievement Award.
I earned a Masters in Community Counseling and EdS from James Madison University. While there, I was awarded the Graduate Psychology Teaching Assistant Award.
I use an integrative approach to working with clients struggling with a wide range of symptoms that impact their relationship with themselves, the people they care about, and affects and interrupts their ability to engage in life in ways that they would like.
I primarily use a client centered approach that includes strength-based, attachment focused, and emotionally supportive and empathetic interventions to help clients co-create and achieve the safety needed to explore upsetting experiences and work on shifting long standing patterns to new ways of experiencing and responding.
I’m trained in and use Trauma Focused CBT and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I’m exclusively taking new clients for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy.
I deliver KAP in my practice in partnership with an organization called Journey Clinical, which has a specialized medical team that determines eligibility for KAP, prescribes the ketamine, and supports us in monitoring outcomes. If you would like to explore the possibility of working with me on KAP, please e-mail us at to discuss eligibility and next steps. Lean more here.
As a Journey Clinical KAP Provider, I offer a therapeutic modality called Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)—the use of ketamine as a complement to psychotherapy.
Even if you've been struggling for many years, there IS hope.
Crystal Myers, Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC
I am trained in evidenced based interventions such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Dialectial Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and use these in my work when appropriate. My main focus is in DBT, an approach that can increase mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. I am also certified in EMDR, a proven trauma treatment that can help build a sense of safety, identify and change beliefs that are harmful, and to become less stuck in past pain.
Amy Kennel
Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC, MS
I joined Lifeworks Professional Counseling in May 2019 to help and support people going through a variety of problems. Since 2005, I have worked in community mental health settings where I did individual and group counseling, and conducted intake assessments. I received a BA in Art Therapy from Arcadia University in Glenside, PA. I received my MS in Mental Health Counseling from Longwood University in Farmville, VA, with honors from the Counseling and Education departments. I was also a member of the Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society for Counselor Educators.
The foundation to transformation and healing in therapy relies on mutual trust and respect. My past work experience with people in crisis honed my skills in holding space for difficult experiences and painful emotions. I provide encouragement, empathy, understanding, attention and acceptance, and give honest and caring feedback.
Through our work together, you can expect to establish goals and work
meaningfully towards achieving them. Our work may also include challenging
unhelpful thoughts, building and increasing a sense of safety, finding meaning
and purpose, improving your communication and connection with others,
recognizing unhealthy patterns, fostering hope and nourishing change, practicing
new skills, and adopting new habits. You may also notice an improvement in
understanding yourself and expressing your feelings, managing emotions, problem solving, and an increased sense of resilience.
Finding the right therapist to help can be overwhelming. I commend your courage in taking steps to improve your life
Amy Kennel, Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC
Tabitha Woodson
Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC, MA
I can say that one of my greatest accomplishments was my 16 years of service to the United States of America. After being discharged from the United States Navy due to a service related condition, I thought long and hard about the next chapter in my life. I have always had the ability to engage in meaningful conversations with others. I enjoyed helping people figure things out.
The hope that I held for others influenced my decision to pursue an MA in Professional Counseling at Liberty University. I have over 10 years of working in community mental health. I have enjoyed working with a diverse population of people to include children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges, along with adults that have serious mental illness and substance abuse problems. I provide individual and group therapy for children, adolescents, and adults.
I do believe that some of the suffering experienced in life oftentimes results from faulty thinking which eventually leads to unwanted emotions and behaviors.
As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I provide a safe, warm and welcoming atmosphere that allows for self exploration, discovery and healing
of the mind and heart. I truly believe that the power to heal the heart, mind and soul lies within you.
As a trauma informed therapist, I use a variety of treatment approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, EMDR and Brief Therapy.
I believe the decision to engage in counseling is courageous, empowering and life changing.
As we work together, my hope for you is that you will regain control over your emotions, you will be able to examine and manage your anxious thoughts and begin to act in a way that promotes peace and harmony within yourself and with others. Some additional work may involve forgiveness of self and others, restorative practices and self acceptance.
You will learn to live a fulfilling life. You will learn to be alive in life instead of merely going through the motions.
I work very hard, and I play very hard.
I’m grateful for life. And I live it.
I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.
Dr. Maya Angelou
Kate Scales
Licensed PRofessional Counselor, LPC, EdS
I graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Drama in 2001. After earning my EdS in School Counseling in 2007, I stepped back from the workforce in order to spend time with my young children. During my time off, I continued to prioritize service to the community through volunteer work with the Shelter For Help in Emergency, ReadyKids and the Adult Learning Center.
I have spent the past four years working as a Therapeutic Day Treatment Specialist with Region Ten CSB striving to be rigorous about collaborating with parents and other providers in the community and about creating spaces of safety where children can feel supported in expressing their feelings.
My time working with children inspired me to become a Licensed Professional Counselor with the goal of becoming a community counselor. When working with clients, I incorporate motivational interviewing, interpersonal process, play and expressive therapies and brief interventions to empower clients to meet their life goals.
"Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness." - Gabor Maté
JORDAN WILSON
RESIDENT IN COUNSELING, MEd
Hello! My name is Jordan Wilson and I am a Resident in Counseling working with children and teens ages 8+, as well as young adults. I grew up in a family of five in King, North Carolina and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana for my adolescent years. I’ve had nine years of experience working with adolescents and in 2019 I received my MEd in Counselor Education at the University of Virginia. For two years, I worked as a school counselor for middle school students in Greene County, and am familiar with the ups and downs of adolescence, especially in this community. In my free time you can find me playing with my dogs Gretzky and Princess Buttercup, hiking with my partner, thrifting, playing cozy video games, painting, or sharing my “self-proclaimed expert” foodie opinions to anyone who will listen :)
I work empathetically and collaboratively with those wanting to learn more about themselves, gain insight into their thinking patterns and behavior, and to build their own confidence. I work with folks to help them get in touch with their story—to help empower the ability to tell it, to share it, or to change it. If you have found yourself or your child lost, anxious, devastated, or angry, together we can connect to a sense of meaning and create a tailored therapeutic experience.
I specialize in an integrative and strength-based approach, looking at the ways in which resilience has shown up in the face of obstacles in life. I also spend a large part of therapy deconstructing the ways in which societal systems impact our mental health and processing traumatic experiences. For my younger clients, I work with parents and families to help you create a safe environment for your child to express themselves and build/strengthen your relationship.
While my integrative approach is based on best-fit, here are the following therapy modalities I borrow from the most: Humanistic, narrative, acceptance and commitment, internal family systems, multicultural/feminist, trauma-focused, existential, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, mindfulness, and play and art-based techniques.
I’d love to get to know YOUR story—not the story society tells about you, not the story others have told you about yourself, but the story and meaning YOU make about you. I’m here to help build the confidence and empowerment you are worthy of. Because YOU matter—you always have, and always will.
My clinical supervisor is Tabitha Woodson, LPC, who can be reached at 434-990-1744.
Because YOU matter -- you always have and always will.
Jordan Wilson, M.Ed., Resident in Counseling
Tiffani Ashland
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, MSW
I personally understand what it feels like to lose your way, lose people you love, or just to lose hope altogether. I've been there.
I strive to create a therapeutic space that is authentic, non-judgmental, flexible, and prioritizes each client’s individual needs and safety. I am an active therapist who values compassion, humor, and challenging clients in an empathetic and supportive way.
I use a holistic & strengths-based approach, drawing from mindfulness, solution-focused & cognitive behavioral therapies.
I am experienced in treating older adolescents & adults with a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, mood disorders, trauma, ADHD, OCD, grief, and all types of relationship issues.
I am a sex-positive therapist, experienced in helping people form and nurture healthy relationships with self and others.
This may include support with sexuality, gender identity, monogamous and non-monogamous, and open or polyamorous relationships.
Addiction is a complex disease of the brain and body that involves compulsive use of one or more substances despite serious health and social consequences.
National Institute of Health
Kristen Kern
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, MSW
It takes courage and strength to reach out for support in life. I believe providing a caring professional environment where individuals feel comfortable and can be themselves is key to healing and growth.
I am a welcoming, supportive, and empathetic therapist who collaborates with each client to help them make positive changes in their lives. I specialize in providing client centered therapy for adults, seniors, and their loved ones.
I use a variety of evidence-based therapy techniques to support individuals facing the challenges of depression, anxiety, grief and loss, and other life transitions.
I focus on supporting each client in managing symptoms and improving their quality of life. I have over 15 years' experience helping adults and seniors learn the skills to make positive improvements to their overall health and wellness.
The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Derik Rice
Supervisee in Social Work, MSW
Choosing kindness because you never know what someone else is going through is a widely held sentiment that I strive to embody in my clinical practice.
My goal in supporting you throughout your recovery journey is to walk alongside you and to be your “hope holder,” even when you feel you are drowning in despair.
As a master’s level social worker who entered the profession midlife, my depth and breadth of lived-life experiences enable me to support you from a place of empathy, compassion, and understanding. While I do not subscribe to any singular therapeutic approach, several that resonate with me include cognitive behavior therapy, solution focused therapy, collaborative therapy, and narrative therapy.
A guiding tenet in my practice is the belief that you are the expert on your own life. It is my job to help you uncover your strengths and empower you to face and overcome whatever dilemmas, problems, or situations you are facing.
I am comfortable working with individuals of all ages ranging from teenagers to older adults who are experiencing anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, trauma, substance abuse, relationship issues, and family and career transitions.
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.
B. F. Skinner
I am also a strong believer in the power of play, art, and expressive therapies. You don’t need to be Picasso to reap the therapeutic and healing benefits from creative interventions. We can engage all of the senses and the mind differently through art and
expressive techniques. Ultimately, I want to work with you to determine the best approach for you towards healing, coping, and achieving your goals.
Life has many ebbs and flows, during flows life may feel easy and fulfilling. However, when life ebbs we are struggling against the current. I hope to walk with you through the ebbs and flows to remind you of your strength and hope.
My clinical supervisor is Tabitha Woodson, LPC, who can be reached at 434-990-1744.
Emma Dulin
RESIDENT IN COUNSELING, MEd, EdS
I was born and raised in Virginia, and it is truly home to me. I have two sweet dogs, Mochi and Marzi. In our free time, my partner and I love hiking with our dogs and trying different restaurants.
I value the role that nature, and especially bodies of water can have in healing and grounding, as it plays a huge role in my life.
I earned a BA in Psychology at the College of William and Mary. While living in Williamsburg, I worked at a youth and family services counseling center for three years, where I implemented
mental health prevention programs in local community centers and schools.
I earned a MEd and EdS in School Counseling, while taking the additional requirements for Clinical Counseling. During my graduate program, I worked with children and adolescents ranging from ages 5 to 18. I am aware of the unique challenges children and adolescents are facing now. I provide a safe and engaging space for growth and self-exploration.
I have experience working with individuals who struggle with anxiety, depression, anger, interpersonal relationships, as well as multicultural and LGBTQ+ identity exploration. As a counselor, I am person-centered and some of my most widely used techniques are solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and narrative therapy. I believe in the power of owning and reauthoring your story to construct your own meaning of life. My hope for you is to recognize events that may stir up negative feelings and learn to ride the wave of emotions to make sense of feelings and not let them control your actions. The meaning we give to events shape our experience and our thoughts hold power, so, sometimes we need support to change unhelpful thought patterns.
The effects of unresolved trauma can be devastating. It can affect our habits and outlook on life, leading to addictions and poor decision-making. It can take a toll on our family life and interpersonal relationships. It can trigger real physical pain, symptoms, and disease. And it can lead to a range of self-destructive behaviors.
Peter A. Levine
Meagan Sheffler
Resident in Counseling, MED
I graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in Anthropology in 2010 and, after a decade of soul-searching and gaining valuable life experience, felt drawn the counseling field. In 2023, I received my MEd in Counselor Education through the College of William and Mary.
I value cultivating a safe, affirming, and trusting therapeutic relationship with my clients. My hope is to create a space that encourages self-discovery and self-compassion. Together, we will collaborate on goals, build meaningful insights around thought processes and emotional responses, and work to unravel and unhealthy patterns that get in the way of personal growth and healing.
I work through a humanistic lens and pull from strength-based, attachment focused, and emotionally focused approaches. I have experience working with individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, complex trauma, as well as identity exploration and interpersonal relationships.
Art speaks where words are unable to explain.”
Pam Holland
Emily Currier
Supervisee in Social Work, MSW
Creativity and a passion for nature were fundamental in my upbringing as a native Virginian. I attended Emory University in Atlanta and received my BA in Anthropology and Creative Writing. After roughly a decade spent pursuing a wide variety of interests and positions, I enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Master of Social Work graduate program because of my interest in social justice and creating equitable access to mental health resources.
For my clinical field placement, I worked with children and adolescents from 5 to 18 years old and discovered a love for play and art therapies. I believe art and creativity to be therapeutic for people of all ages, unlocking feelings and memories that people may otherwise struggle to verbalize. Along with a strengths-based perspective, I strive to create a supportive environment in which clients feel comfortable expressing themselves.
I admire the courage and resilience it takes to seek help when you are unwell, suffering, or feeling out-of-sorts. I am committed to celebrating client’s strengths and triumphs as well as acknowledging and working through their hard days and challenges.
Take a deep breath to remember you are the child who lived through survival mode and the empowered adult who chose their healing.
Dr. Nicole LePera