Christina is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Art Therapist, and Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider whose experience includes providing case management, therapy (individual/couples/family/group), dream analysis, and faith-based counseling as well as art/play therapy to children/adolescents/adults within inpatient and/or outpatient settings. As both a psychotherapist/art therapist, Christina employs both traditional counseling (“talk therapy”) and play therapy as well as image-making and the creative process to support healing, transformation, wellness, and growth. The therapeutic process is person centered and considers each person’s strengths, needs, comfort level, life experience, age, gender, culture, heritage, language, beliefs, and identity. Therapy may incorporate any of the following approaches, but is not limited to: positive psychology, trauma focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), solution focused, diabolical behavior therapy (DBT), family systems, supportive therapy, and psycho-analysis. Christina’s specialty areas include working with young children (ages 3-6) and adults with intellectual disabilities to address stress, life transitions, sexually harmful/reactive behaviors, trauma, mood disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders, and elimination disorders.
Christina entered the mental health field in 2009 when she began providing supportive services to young adults/elderly diagnosed with intellectual disabilities/coexisting disorders in day support/group home settings. Christina graduated with an AAA in Studio Arts from TCC’s Visual Arts Center in 2013, a BS in Psychology from Regent University in 2012, and a dual MS in Art Therapy and Counseling from EVMS in 2015. She completed her clinical training in VA from 2013-2015 at Sentara Obici Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit, Renaissance Academy, and Harbor Point Behavioral Health Center. In 2014, Christina traveled to Haiti with EVMS, and provided “art as therapy” services to over 400 orphaned children. From 2015-2018, Christina provided specialized therapy within a residential setting to youth diagnosed with intellectual disabilities/mood disorders and co-occurring sexually harmful/reactive/addictive behaviors, who were often part of the juvenile justice system and/or foster care system. Since 2018, Christina continues to provide outpatient therapy services to children/adolescents/adults in the Hampton Roads Community.