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

Are you feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed all the time? Do you find yourself laying awake at night thinking about your to-do list, worries, or replaying events from the day? Many of my clients find themselves struggling with anxiety, OCD, stress, or burnout.

I specialize in anxiety and related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), life transitions/adjustments, women's issues, and stress management. I provide a safe, non-judgmental space for all clients to work on their therapeutic goals, utilizing an integrative approach.

Reaching out to a therapist to connect with can be a very difficult first step. I would love to answer any questions you may have regarding my therapeutic style and discuss setting up your first appointment.

I have been supporting parents in every job or role I’ve had in adulthood whether I knew it at the time or not. My clinical work began working with teenagers in the inpatient setting. I noticed that there would be times where patients would become stable while in the hospital and then we would discharge them, only for them to return a short time later. I realized we needed to be working with the family as a whole. Then I began working with younger children, thinking if I intercepted my clients at a younger age, I could potentially prevent the struggles I saw on the inpatient unit. I slowly worked my way down in age, working in the infant and early childhood realm in mental health care. One day, I had a lightbulb moment. I noticed a trend in all of these settings: the most important and impactful work is done with parents. Most mental health difficulties in children (and even many adults!) can be traced back to early childhood. Those experiences either tend to help or hinder our roles as parents.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with a PhD in Counselor Education & Supervision and am an ACS approved supervisor. I am the Assistant Dean of the School of Counseling at Richmont Graduate University. I am a CSAT and work extensively with sexual identity issues, sexual addiction issues, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. I specialize in working with men within the LGBTQ+ community, men in mixed orientation marriages, and men who experienced childhood sexual abuse.