Welcome!

Who We Are


Our Specialty

We are a collaborative of mental health practitioners who specialize in working with the interconnected impact of Trauma in a person’s life, and supporting them to heal.

Our Practice

We offer effective outpatient, individualized mental health care through counseling & psychotherapy.

We believe in diversity, culture, connection, and community. And we genuinely love what we do.

We welcome all individuals, races and ethnicities, spiritual orientations, sexual identities, expressions of gender, and intimate relationship frameworks.

We are sex positive, kink positive, and poly affirming in our practice.

We serve individuals, those in intimate relationships, and families ages 18+. We do not serve minors or adolescents in our practice.

Our Focus

Our focus is to help individuals engage in the process of healing, breathe in their lived experience, learn to expand their capacity for resilience, and create space to be present with what is present.

We achieve this by providing a neutral space, cultivating therapeutic safety, promoting empathy, and individualizing our treatment and approach.

Our Mission

Our mission is to help you learn that healing is not a static point, to empower you to flourish, and to support you as you discover your life.

A person laughing, they are covered in speckled srops of colored paint, and have paint in their hair. Their hair is short, and the image shows their head and shoulders.

Our Providers


Marielle Stair (She/Her)

Founder
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Trauma-Informed Somatic Coach

Marielle specializes in supporting individuals and relationships to navigate the complex outcomes of devastating, traumatic experiences that can occur over the lifespan of a person or relationship. Through this journey, she supports her clients to rediscover their identity, their sense of self, and expressions of that self. She has a passion for serving those who have experienced violence and marginalization related to sexual and gender identity, and has a special interest in working with LGB+, Queer, and Transgender communities and relationships.

Clients come to her with experiences of racial and ethnic marginalization and displacement, acculturation and resettlement stress, and histories of surviving mental, physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence. This includes experiences of military combat, moral injury, and violence and marginalization related to sexual identity, interpersonal power dynamics, and expressions of gender.

Marielle is also a Trauma-Informed Somatic Coach. She draws from her experience as a trauma therapist to help her clients achieve specific life goals, and overcome mental blocks to personal and professional growth in functional and sustainable ways.

Marielle uses person centered, humanistic, and embodiment lenses in her approach to working with Trauma, both as a psychotherapist and a Somatic Coach. She uses evidence-based techniques that draw from the body of research on behavior, mindfulness, cognitive, recovery-oriented, spiritual, somatic, and harm reduction psychotherapies.

“My goal is to support you to heal. To help you learn that healing is dynamic. That it grows, changes, and moves with you. And to help you develop a sense of agency and capacity to choose your own path in this life.”

Danica Ligato-Riding (She/Her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

The development of Dani’s clinical focus has been influenced by an integrative therapeutic approach. She believes that in order for a person to achieve personal goals, understanding one’s life story and subjective experiences is paramount.

Dani’s clinical experience started at Mercer University in Atlanta with a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Since 2016, her experience has been primarily in substance use treatment, mandated & court-ordered counseling, treatment of behavioral issues and mood disorders, inpatient residential treatment, trauma, and co-occurring disorders.

Dani uses an integrative therapeutic approach. She believes in the value of self-awareness, our own truths, and unique life stories. She encourages her clients to learn that we possess an intrinsic power to explore ourselves and transform our actions, maximizing change and increasing hope. That in order for an individual to achieve personal goals, understanding their life story and subjective experiences is paramount.

“I am a living story. I will not give up.” – TWLOHA

Dani provides bilingual individual counseling services in English and Spanish. Her work covers mental health and substance use.

“Our stories and experiences belong to us; they matter. I will support you, as you discover your story.”

Jeanie Witcraft Shiau (She/Her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Jeanie enjoys working with individuals, and intimate and/or family relationships. She works with a wide range of mental health crises, mood, behavioral, and trauma symptoms.

Jeanie’s clinical niche is working with individuals and families who have sustained Perinatal and Postpartum mental, physical, and medical trauma. Her passion is Perinatal Mental Health.

Since mental illness can present differently during and after pregnancy, it needs to be handled with specialized skills. As a Trauma clinician, Jeanie assists parents and their families during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Her work also addresses the complexities of grief and loss that can occur for individuals and families navigating fertility, pregnancy, and birthing processes.

Jeanie uses experiential and cognitive behavioral therapies in treating the impact of trauma. She helps her clients develop sustainable behaviors for physical and mental wellbeing.

“This is what I provide: a safe, supportive environment, and a space where you will gain a better understanding of yourself, and build a foundation of practical self-care so you can better weather what life brings.”

Tara Lamb (She/Her)

Administrative Coordinator

My name is Tara and I help Athens Counseling & Psychotherapy, LLC with a variety of administrative tasks like client communication, insurance eligibility, billing, and appointment management. While you may not meet me in-person, I am always a phone call away to help you with any of your scheduling or billing needs. 

When I’m not working, you will most likely find me hanging out at home with my husband, two dogs, and two cats. I love hiking, camping, and all things outdoors and also enjoy yoga and baking.


Insights


Our Service Orientation

We specialize in trauma.

We work with symptoms that generally stem from four primary categories of trauma presentations:

  • Acute trauma, which results from a single incident.
  • Chronic trauma, which is repeated and prolonged. Examples include, domestic violence or abuse.
  • Complex trauma, which is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive, interpersonal nature. This type of trauma can occur from childhood onwards.
  • Little “t” trauma, which are events that overwhelm our capacity to cope and cause a disruption in our emotional functioning and stability. These distressing events are not inherently life or body-integrity threatening, but have the capacity to cause us to experience notable helplessness or hopelessness.
Learn More:
Our Rates

We accept cash and all major credit cards as forms of payment, including Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts.

Accepted Insurance Plans: Anthem BCBS, Aetna, Multiplan, Out of Network

We do not currently provide sliding-scale rates.

Supportive Resources

If you are in a crisis or any other person may be in danger – please reach out to your local support and/or emergency services.

In this section you will find a list of helpful resources that may support you.

A picture of the physical address of the practice, a small building flanked on either side by other office biuldings.
Locations & Hours
ATHENS, GA

1 Huntington Road, Suite 101,
Athens, GA 30606.

We are located in a little business park off ATL Highway on the West-side of Athens. This practice is housed in the Athens Mind Body Center (AMBC). By appointment only.


SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, GA

Serving Glynn County and surrounding areas.
Virtual services offered at this location coming soon!


Blog


When our people are hurting

Three mindful and powerful ways to support them. The recent deaths within our Asian community in Atlanta, GA has rocked many minority and marginalized ethnic communities, people of color, women of color, and those of us in service industries. It has placed an increased weight on our shoulders of concern for our own safety, and…

The power of “not yet” and the tyranny of “now”

“in the growth mindset, failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.” – Carol Dweck This is such a powerful TED Talk by Carol Dweck, a pioneer in the research on motivation and mindset. Something to think about: “How are we raising our…

Mindset: healing begins here

Charlie Brown and Snoopy ❤ Who doesn’t love this dynamic duo? I saw this cartoon pop up on my social media timeline the other day, and it reminded me of something that I can sometimes forget- the importance and value of perspective. And on an even deeper level, mindset. I once read a beautiful illustration…

We provide affordable:

ASSESSMENT AND COUNSELING
IN-PERSON AND ONLINE SERVICES
LICENSED IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA