Nancy Hillery-Lucas (she/her)

My academic education, continuing education, and many years of experience have given me the tools and lots of practice for helping people explore the connection between past experiences--particularly the developmental period of childhood--and their current mindset and experiences. People are encouraged to talk about what is on their mind, bothering them or seemingly creating problems in their life. It promotes self-expression and insight that empowers desired change.

My education and practice has been heavily based on this approach. It addresses faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking, learned unhelpful patterns of behavior, and the need to challenge thoughts in order to change emotions and behaviors. This helps us achieve more desirable outcomes in life--improving self-esteem and relationships. It helps us better understand ourselves and others, and consciously, mindfully make different choices. When you change the way you think, you change the way you feel.

Our early life experiences in childhood sets the stage for our adult relationships. Our attachment style that develops as a result of our early life attachment experiences (e.g. with caregivers and other attachment figures) influences our thoughts, emotions, behaviors and outcomes in our adult relationships. This approach helps people understand and address past traumas and attachment wounds that often pertain to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and difficulty in relationships.

I have extensive education, training, and experience working with people with such histories. I am very trauma-informed/-centered. I have expertise in working with childhood maltreatment, neglect, and abuse as well as other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). I also have expertise in working with intimate partner violence (IPV/domestic violence)--which is most often an abuse of power and control. I served on a county Domestic Violence task force for several years.

My graduate studies included specialization in an Internship in Aging program having been selectively chosen for this opportunity. I have provided psychological services to people in a variety of settings including a skilled nursing facility. As I am very much in the midst of aging myself, I consider myself quite the expert! (LOL) Coping with life's transitions, changes, medical issues, empty nest, grief and losses--these are just some of the challenges therapy can assist you with.

My graduate training and field experience included running many anger management groups for teens. The breadth of my academic and continuing education, combined with practice experience with patients, has provided me with better understanding than most of this vital, often helpful emotion. It mobilizes and protects us. This is not a "bad" emotion, and it doesn't make someone a "bad" person. What we do when we are angry, however, matters, and not all behaviors are helpful, and many are hurtful.