THERAPEUTIC COUNSELING & CONSULTING
Ashton Barnes
She/Her
✶
Resident in Counseling
EMDR Trained
NCC
Therapist
Student Supervisor
Hello! My name is Ashton Barnes, and I am a National Certified Counselor and a Resident in Counseling working towards full licensure as an LPC in Virginia. I believe that if we are met with compassion, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard, we are all capable of maximizing our internal strengths to drive us towards healing.
I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from James Madison University as well as a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. I have experience working with individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders in a community-based setting as well as individuals struggling with anxiety, adjustment challenges, relational conflict, grief, trauma, and self-esteem in outpatient psychotherapy.
I consider a warm and nurturing therapeutic relationship to be paramount in creating a safe environment for you to explore your life stories and move towards a future grounded in peace. I value an individualized approach to therapy as everyone is unique and deserves to be treated as such, but you can be sure that in every session with me, I operate from a client-centered and trauma informed approach to ensure you feel accepted, supported, and understood in our therapeutic space. I strive to meet you where you are in your journey as you are the captain of your own ship! Additionally, I lean on psychodynamic and emotions focused modalities along with insight oriented, depth, and acceptance techniques that allow us to dig deeper into your emotional experience and enable unconscious material to surface with the end goal of integration. I am also EMDR trained, which can blend into regular talk therapy sessions regardless of the type of stories you are coming to therapy with. Please contact me if you are in need of a safe and warm environment to grow – I look forward to walking alongside you through it all!
Resources
Come As You Are
Come As You Are
By Emily Nagasoki
While the cover of this book generalizes its content to your overall sexual wellbeing, it’s really about female empowerment, female sexuality, self-acceptance, and the science behind the interconnectedness of our brain and bodies. It’s unfortunate that the concept of sexuality and feeling confident in your body with all of its parts has become taboo; people often are afraid to discuss challenges they are experiencing or even joyful moments, too. I have frequently heard a recurring theme of shame in women who have had the full spectrum of experiences regarding their sexuality, and many don’t have knowledge of how their nervous system and stress response impact their physiology. This book uses a blend of science and compassionate psychoeducation to assist readers in gaining insight and understanding into their instinctual stress responses and drives that can influence desire, confidence, and sexual and physical wellbeing. Emily Nagoski does an excellent job in destigmatizing awkwardness or shame in the dialogue surrounding sexual health and reminds readers that female sexuality - which can go hand in hand with self-love and self-acceptance - deserves to take up space in the mental health world and the societal landscape at large. Regardless of your sexual health, preferences, orientation, or levels of curiosity, this book offers a great amount of knowledge and education as well as open-ended reflections to guide you in expanding your self-awareness and confidence, which hopefully can lead to a restored and trusting nervous system and overall improved relationship with your body.
And How Does That Make You Feel?
To all therapists and any person seeking therapy: read this now! What an absolutely exceptional and human look into a therapist’s mind as they sit across from four clients while simultaneously managing their inner dialogue to provide the best care possible. Joshua Fletcher, a psychotherapist based in the UK, seamlessly interweaves chapters with psychoeducation on many common mental health concerns into a larger narrative that includes content from sessions and his inner monologue showing his humanity as a therapist.
