Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Singleton.
Hi Alison, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a teenager in high school, I took a few psychology classes that truly fascinated me. It was the first time in my life where I wanted to dive deeper into the subject than was required. Learning about how people’s experiences and relationships can profoundly affect one another, especially in abusive or traumatic environments, was both alarming and compelling to me. I also saw firsthand how life choices and marital paths can impact a person’s mental health and life experiences. I decided to major in psychology in college and get involved in the psychology department as a student tutor, a teaching assistant for a techniques of counseling course, and participated in an undergraduate internship where I helped create behavior plans for children and teens at an inpatient community mental health agency serving disadvantaged and treatment mandated youth. I had wonderful professors who encouraged me to pursue my doctorate in clinical psychology. I wanted to better understand how childhood experiences influenced mental health problems over time and how I could help support healing and growth. I decided to pursue child/adolescent clinical psychology and was lucky enough to get into a Psy.D. program right after undergraduate school that offered a master’s degree en route to a doctorate. My dissertation research focused on the impact of parent and child ADHD symptoms on parenting styles and child attachment. Although I specialized in children and adolescent mental health, I also had the opportunity to work with college students and adults along the way, which has allowed me to feel comfortable working in both areas. I was trained to offer psychotherapy and psychological testing/evaluation services through my training at Eckerd College Counseling Center, USF Department of Psychiatry, and USF’s Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System before venturing off to internship at the Robert J. Murney Clinic with the Forest Institute where I also had the opportunity to serve inmates at the Greene County Justice Center. I spent two years in the Hillsborough County Public Schools as a post-doctoral fellow offering individual and group therapy and psychological evaluation to students of all ages in the ESE program across five schools. After I became licensed as a psychologist in 2012, I worked in one of the largest private group practices in Pinellas County, FL (Family Psychology Associates) for nearly 6 years before moving to Jacksonville, FL. It was a wonderful experience with supportive office staff and encouraging, experienced colleagues. At that time, I split my time between therapy, evaluations, career assessment/counseling, and program development. I helped create their telehealth program in 2018, which allowed the practice to transition to full time telehealth when the covid pandemic hit. After moving to Jacksonville in 2018 and with the support of mentors/colleagues and family, I decided to start my solo private practice. I have been offering therapy primarily to adolescents and adult women for the past 7 years. It has been a blessing to serve the community of Jacksonville. I have clients who are remarkable people yet need help overcoming or navigating anxiety, stress, relationships, career challenges, family of origin difficulties, grief, parenting struggles, post-partum adjustment, and big life transitions. I also support persons with anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD, and depression. I especially enjoy incorporating a client’s faith into their treatment experience as I find it important to approach people from a holistic perspective, not only addressing their mental/emotional health but also their physical and spiritual health.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to this point in life hasn’t been easy. Graduate school is stressful and challenging as to be expected and it took longer to finish my dissertation due to delays in gathering research participants. I also had to move to another state for a year long internship, which uprooted my entire life in order to reach my goals. I couldn’t have gotten to this point without the support of my spouse/family/friends/colleagues who always believed in me even when it meant various sacrifices along the way. I am grateful for my experience at my former group practice which prepared me to understand the ins and outs of private practice and helped me get set up on my own. It’s also been tough managing a private practice as a working mother. It gets tricky navigating decisions that are best for my clients as well as for myself and my family.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Stillwaters Psychology, LLC?
I am a Clinical Psychologist in solo private practice offering psychotherapy to primarily college age and adult women. Although I have extensive experience with children and adolescents, my schedule doesn’t allow for much after school appointment availability right now. When you contact my office via email or phone, I am the one who will talk with you about your needs and get you scheduled or refer you out to a more appropriate provider, if I am not the right fit. I find that having that initial discussion helps people feel comfortable to follow through with their first appointment and therapy experience. I try my best to help people feel heard and safe in my office in order to share openly about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I blend traditional talk therapy, which helps process through current life issues or the past, with skill building to help people function more effectively at work, school, and with others. For example, sometimes people don’t know how to support or validate someone else’s feelings. We can walk through what that looks like with clear examples/articles/handouts or practice it together. I also help people understand the purpose of emotions and emotional regulation or emotional maturity. I often recommend helpful resources or books to build on their knowledge, skills, and insight. I like to balance supportive listening with useful feedback. I offer career exploration and brief career assessment measures. Time management and organization skills are also often a part of the therapy, especially for folks with executive functioning difficulties or ADHD. When it comes to helping people with phobias, anxiety or OCD, I often incorporate exposure exercises in the office and for homework to help people gradually face their fears at their own pace, which I find people appreciate quite a bit. As a Christian, I am one of the few female psychologists in private practice in this area that will incorporate Christian faith into treatment when requested. I do not push any beliefs but support the beliefs of the client as they relate to their struggles. I know there are many excellent mental health counselors/social workers who can offer this support, but sometimes people are looking for that in a psychologist and may not find it easily. Christians seeking therapy often want to know their provider understands them and will not make suggestions that do not align with their beliefs. After nearly 20 years in the mental health field, I’ve come to understand that people are incredibly complex yet simple in some ways. Most people want to be seen, heard, matter, and loved through the good and the bad and when those things don’t happen in a consistent way by the important people in their lives, it can leave lasting impacts that can lead people to incredible pain and lifelong struggle or surprising resilience and growth that can be quite admirable. I am always honored by the trust people put in me to listen to their stories and the courage they show to grow through their pain.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Here are a few websites I often suggest for people: anxietycanada.com, iocdf.org, onetonline.org, 16personalities.com, psychologytoday.com, additudemag.com
Apps: NOCD (OCD therapy and tools), CBT-i Coach (tools for reducing anxiety, winding down at night), Curable (support for chronic pain), Connect PSI (Post Partum Support International), Todoist (organization/planning), Moodflow (mood/sleep journal)
Books: Mindfulness Self-Compassion Workbook, ADD Friendly Ways to Organize your Life, Codependent No More, The Book of Boundaries, Getting Over OCD, Anxious for Nothing, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Stillwaterspsy.com
