Dustin Ellis was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Lipscomb University and his master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Trevecca Nazarene University.

Prior to working with GROW, Dustin spent the last fourteen years using behavioral interventions like ABA with children and families on the autism spectrum. He has made the transition into the field of counseling because he has seen the unique needs that families with children on the spectrum face.

Dustin has specialized in providing resources and meeting the specific needs of the parents/families/siblings/caregivers who have children on the spectrum. His goal is to provide a holistic approach for supporting these families to thrive in the future.

Dustin has training in Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples to better serve this population. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Clients describe Dustin as warm and authentic while offering hope that change is possible. His approach centers around using awareness, practicing compassion, and acceptance of deeper emotions to create connection and change.

Dustin embraces the words of Brene’ Brown, “We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.”

Supervisor: Dr. Wendy Dickinson

Throughout my career I have worked in forensic settings, community mental health, and private practice. I have experience working with serious mental health, sex addiction, trauma, betrayal, and grief. I am a licensed mental health therapist in the State of Washington. I earned a doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University in 2018.

Currently, I work with adults who are facing death and non-death losses. Those who are trying to navigate the complexity of relationships and the grief process. I believe we all experience change and loss by virtue of being in this world and in relationships. Transition, loss, and the experience of grief will affect every person through various moment in life. I strive to understand each person’s unique experience with these transitions. At times, these changes and losses are unexpected and can throw us off track or render us feeling hopeless. I have a keen interest in how we construct meaning life, especially in the wake of loss and transition.
I enjoy working with people seeking ways to adapt, thrive, and create meaning within themselves, while coping with losses including death, loss of relationships, illness, and many other life transitions and/or ambiguous losses.

My primary goal in the therapeutic process is to actively assist you in reaching a better understanding of the underlying conflicts and meaning around your situation by helping you gain some objective distance around your concern in relation to your larger context. Self-awareness alone has positive effects. I believe change is possible through this kind of understanding and acceptance of oneself.

Telemental Health
Serving clients with Trauma, Complex Trauma, PTSD, Bipolar D/O, Anxiety, Depression and Gender issues

Hi, thanks for reading my Bio! I've been a psychologist now for 30 years. Over that time, I've helped more than 10,000 people. This is my 3rd career - I started as a Domino's Pizza manager, then a computer programmer for IBM. I became a psychologist after seeing my own psychologist during a difficult divorce. I learned so much from that experience that I knew it was right for me - so I went back to school. I've also completed 90% of a post doctoral certificate in neuropsychology.

I find that most people I work with are interested in one of two kinds of therapy. First, some people are interested in problem solving / solution focused therapy - finding solutions to life's many problems. I use brain science and the design of human beings to develop creative shortcuts to these problems. I've created my own names for them, such as the 'what else' technique, or reverse psychologizing yourself, or the 3 P's of grieving, or the 'outside the box' technique.

Other people want to understand themselves at a deep level. Perhaps they find themselves making the same mistakes in life. Or they wonder 'how did I get here?' The want to understand their personality structure and to make deep, long lasting changes - to become, not necessarily happier, but more successful and satisfied with life. During this process, I describe what I consider to be 'the ultimate in mental health.'

And now you know ... The rest of the story!

Do you struggle to communicate or connect emotionally with your partner? Are you and your partner having trouble with your sexual relationship or had an affair? Do you feel like your anxiety, depression, sexual/porn addiction or trauma are getting in the way your life and relationships? I can you help you address your relational or mental health issues so you can feel more connected and emotionally steady.

Research shows that you need to have a good relationship with your therapist in order to succeed in counseling, so I work hard to create an environment calm, trusting environment. I pursue further education in specialties to better serve my clients, such as Sex Therapy, EMDR, Prepare/Enrich, and Gottman. I practice from a Christian worldview and I am able to incorporate that (or not) based on my client preferences. I love to listen to people's stories and help them identify healthy, achievable goals, then work with them to reach those goals.

We will work together to learn about your unique story and create a treatment plan that addresses your specific needs. I am currently offering both in-person and telehealth sessions for individuals and couples. Contact me to book a short phone call to find out if we are good fit and answer any questions.

I practice counseling from the humanistic perspective that every person is inclined to change and growth to make the best of surviving in life. I utilize person-centered counseling to promote empowerment, autonomy, and authenticity to promote self-acceptance and compassion. In the beginning of counseling, I focus on the therapeutic relationship to foster trust and make sure that you feel comfortable in the therapeutic space. Once an alliance is formed, I often utilize specific modalities that cater to your individual needs and experiences. I like to show up as myself to counseling with hopes that you will too.
In my practice of person-centered counseling, I aim to reintroduce you to your authentic self. As you become more connected to yourself, you become more connected to your inner sources of wisdom, validation, compassion, self-respect, and acceptance.
At Restore Counseling & Therapy, we place you at the center of your counseling experience. We encourage you to define the changes that you would like to see and experience. We just help you get there with the professional knowledge and tools we have acquired for you.

Hi, thank you for looking at my profile. I am a Christian counselor in Atlanta and have been counseling for 6 years. I love helping people find their true self. I focus on childhood experiences that impact the person as an adult. I like giving practical tools and resources. Feel free to go to my website for more information. Email or text is the best way to communicate.

Samantha earned her Master of Health Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Catawba College. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor through the NC Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors (#17770) and a Licensed Professional Counselor through the SC Board of Licensed Professional Counselors (#10262). Samantha is also a Certified Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, a Nationally Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Certified Addictions-Informed Mental Health Provider, a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Professional, and a Registered Child Forensic Interviewer. Additionally, Samantha is trained in Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing.

Samantha has had the opportunity to work with patients with a variety of mental health concerns in school-based, college mental health, and outpatient settings. Her clinical focus is on severe and persistent mental health concerns, with a concentration on mood disorders. Samantha utilizes an integrative approach, combining Cognitive Behavioral, Interpersonal, and Psychoanalytic techniques. Therefore, during sessions, she commonly assists in identifying and challenging self-limiting patterns, healing from past experiences, and gaining insight into how the unconscious influences behavior. Her research interests include the intersection of mental health and the criminal justice system, the development of neurodevelopmental disorders, and genetic links between schizophrenia and associated comorbid conditions.