My Story (the long and short of it)
Hi! I’m Marcelle - founder and therapist for LOCT.
Here's the bulletpoints:
I’m a:
Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S)
Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
Certified in DBT therapy (C-DBT).
I have nearly 19 years of experience in helping adults navigate anxiety. (Cliff's notes summary - I promise I know what I'm doing!)
The vulnerable (and more interesting) stuff:
I was that "born to be anxious" kid - the one that randomly worried about being eaten alive by a subspecies of ants specific to sub-Saharan Africa they saw on Discovery Channel at age 5 - the one with chronic insomnia as a 4th grader worrying about looking stupid that day stumbling over a word during read aloud - the one that constantly lived in panic every time leaving the house (What if a plane falls out of the sky on me today? What if today is the day we get into a car wreck and all die?). Most of my life this was "just Marcelle" - and "just a normal kid thing" to have anxiety that keeps you up at night (it's not).
Fast forward through the teen years and my 20s that childhood anxiety starts to look more like debilitating analysis paralysis, struggling to make decisions (from what to eat all the way up to what if I'm not really happy in this relationship and making a huge mistake). I lived in a perpetual state of panic - trapped in endless thought loops, wildly imagined catastrophes, fear - and constantly ticked at myself - why couldn't I just "be normal???"
Panic attacks started after my first daughter was born in my early 20s - the kind where you are 99.9999% sure the EKG at the ER is wrong and you really are having a heart attack (how can anxiety be this bad??).
Through my own process (ie. many dark days and many tears) I discovered that real change is possible and that anxiety doesn’t have to define your life. Am I a person that never worries about a thing? NO! Because I live in today's world. But I can effectively compartmentalize, de-fuse (an anxiety skill!), recognize patterns, figure out what my nervous system is telling me, and manage the anxiety so it doesn't manage/control me. I've done the work to understand why I have anxiety (core beliefs) - what scares me the most - and how to turn it off and on. That's my goal for you!
"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."
- Joseph Campbell
CV...
Education
University of Texas at Austin, BA in Psychology, 2003
St. Edward's University, Austin
MA in Counseling Psychology, 2005
St. Mary's University, San Antonio
Doctoral Studies in Counselor Education and Supervision
2008-2010
Certifications
Texas State Board of Examiners Clinical Supervisor for post-graduate LPC-Associates
Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP, #818324)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Certification (CCTP, #612582)
Certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (C-DBT, #951533)
Experience
Since 2006, I’ve been dedicated to helping clients grow and heal through trauma-informed, DBT and CBT centered care. My background includes training other mental health professionals and social service providers across the US in culturally responsive approaches and evidence-based PTSD treatment. I completed doctoral work in Counselor Education and Supervision, and am passionate about mentoring emerging clinicians.