At Ashley Hampton Counseling it is my mission to provide an authentic and safe therapeutic environment in which women, teens and members of the LGBT community feel empowered to live the lives they long for and deserve. I find joy in helping others move past shame, trauma and self-doubt that have kept them stuck in a negative holding pattern.

Meredith is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a background in both acute inpatient and traditional outpatient settings. She received her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lipscomb University. Meredith practices evidence-based techniques and approaches to therapy. Some of her clinical interests include: depressive disorders, managing stress and anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, relational issues, trauma and abuse, grief, self-esteem, health/wellness, life transitions, and creating and maintaining healthy boundaries.

Life can be both messy and beautiful. Life also brings so many opportunities to dive deeper, to transform, and to learn how to love ourselves and others with open hearts. I believe that we all deserve a space to let our feelings be felt. We all deserve to have our experiences witnessed and held with compassion and kindness. My hope is that the therapeutic relationship is a healing one and that the space we create together supports growth and curiosity. My approach to this work is rooted in compassion and human-to-human connection. I believe that authentic connection supports our capacity to grow and change.

After having been in practice for over 11 yrs, I understand therapy can be a very scary process. It takes tremendous courage to reach out for help. I was honored to be contracted by the TV show "THE DOCTORS" to work with one of their case studies. I have also been honored to be recognized by Threebestrated.com as one of the top 3 MFT's in the Nashville area. I practice a systems perspective of therapy meaning people are comprised of an accumulation of family dynamics, life's events and attachments. I practice eclectic therapy styles to meet clients within their comfort zone. I utilize a sliding scale for affordable services.

It's a big decision to see a therapist. The thought of sharing deep hopes & fears can feel daunting. I offer safe space, free of judgment, to work on the changes you are seeking. I hope you will feel empowered to ask me (or any other clinician you are considering) about major concerns prior to scheduling. Growth work can be crucial: in order to find connection within ourselves, with our spirituality or sense of life purpose, and to make fulfilling relationships possible. Do you just need to regain your focus? If you do take this step, I'd be honored to work with you to journey toward more meaningful, joyful living.

My private practice is different than most therapy practices. First, my practice is small. My job as director of the Lipscomb Family Therapy Center and position on the faculty in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Lipscomb University allow me to limit my caseload to 5-7 clients. This assures that my clients receive the attention they deserve. Second, my role in academia places me at the forefront of the field of marriage and family therapy. This means that my practice is informed by scientific research that most private practice therapists can't easily access.

My passion is to help others meet their personal goals, one step at a time. I have approximately ten years of experience working with a wide range of clients, including youth, families, and adults. For the past ten years, I have assist clients through the criminal justice system, assisted children and adolescences in developing personal growth, and working with clients on a variety of matters including anxiety, chemical dependency, depression, relationship counseling, parenting skills, trauma, and behavioral modification.

Some people ask does therapy work? Where do you begin? What's the first step? I'm glad that you asked. It was my own, very positive counseling experience that moved me. It changed me. I decided that I wanted to be a counselor. I loved the process. I loved the connection. After earning my graduate degree in counseling from Vanderbilt University in 2005, I worked at Centerstone in the Partial Hospitalization program. I saw first-hand that counseling can untangle the mind and inspire a new path. It was this experience as a therapist, that led me to open my own private practice in 2012. And that is where we will begin.

My approach to therapy is collaborative and relational. While woundings often occur in relationship, I also believe that healing happens in relationship. In navigating life woundings, we join together as a team to create safety, security, and trust in order to understand what brought you into the therapy. A firm believer in the power of discovering one’s own voice and core identity, my hope is that clients leave feeling more connected to the person they were created to be. A true extrovert and lover of conversation and exploration, I aim to have clients feel seen, understood, and heard.

Taking care of yourself and your relationships is the most important thing you can do. However, sometimes stress piles up, relationships get strained or unexpected losses leave a hole in life. When these things happen it can get overwhleming resulting in many more questions than answers. It is a privilege for me to walk with people who are experiencing challenges and help them heal from wounds, solve problems and glean some redemptive meaning from the challenges they face.

**I am currently accepting new clients, but have very limited availability at this time.** You work hard to make sure everything is just right, but ultimately, all you can see are all the ways you aren't measuring up. To everyone else, it looks like everything is great, but you feel like a mess on the inside, and you're terrified to let anyone know how anxious or depressed you are. You feel like you have to put away your struggles and show up for everyone else in your life. You feel like your worthiness hinges on what you do, not who you are. It's time for that to change. It's time for your wants and needs to finally matter.

I began counseling in New York when I was working as a chaplain during graduate school. I began in community centers, hospitals and prisons. During that time I discovered I have a genuine connection and desire to work with people suffering from the disease of addiction. When I returned to Nashville (the city of my birth), I began teaching middle school and high school, primarily with underserved populations. There I found that same connection with hard to reach youth, adolescents and their families. It is my sincere goal to help individuals, couples and families find a path to mental and emotional health and serenity.

My work as a therapist is based on a conviction that our choices and relationship patterns are fueled by our need to experience wholeness and heal the brokenness of our past. This concept lies at the core of attachment theory and is a powerful tool for helping us understand why we struggle with others and with our own internal critic. In my therapeutic work, I leverage aspects of Imago, Strengths, Solution-focused, Internal Family, and Relational-Cultural theories to help clients progress towards deeper and more meaningful connections with themselves and others.

The decision to engage yourself in a therapeutic relationship is a courageous choice that can yield rewarding and profound insights and changes in your life. I find it a great privilege to partner with my clients as we explore and discover the complexities and challenges of their unique story. Our work will be collaborative as I assist you in finding wholeness, balance, a greater acceptance of yourself and relational and spiritual health. My goal is to listen well and offer a respectful, empathic, and honest environment to help you grow, heal and rediscover your truest, most congruent self.

My work is psychodynamically oriented, which means that I am interested in how early life and family of origin issues impact current life relationships and events. I work with both individuals and couples-- gay and straight. I also work with people of color. I have a general practice that includes people dealing with depression, anxiety, relationship problems, low self-esteem, trauma, work related stress, sexual identity, religious issues, etc.

With fees as low as $10 per session, we strive to make talk therapy services available for everyone in the Nashville community. Lipscomb Family Therapy Center provides a comfortable and confidential therapy setting to discuss issues you may be struggling with. All LFTC therapist interns provide services on a sliding fee scale that runs from $10 to $90 per session based on client income. At LFTC, we welcome the opportunity to work with everyone, regardless of religious or spiritual background, and we believe that seeking help shows strength and a personal commitment to becoming a healthier person.

I believe that we all deserve support and at the core of personal transformation is a duality of self-compassion and desire for change. As humans we are intrinsically wired for connection, resiliency and healing. However, sometimes there are things from the past or other life stressors that cause us to feel stuck and that healing is out of our reach. I am deeply interested in the mind-body connection and believe reconnecting to our bodies can be incredibly transformational. In my practice, I work with folks in adolescence and adulthood who are desiring to address trauma, chronic stress, depression, anxiety and life transitions.

Having been in the field for a decade, I enjoy working with a wide variety of clients and have a passion for people in the midst of life transitions such as shifting relationships, career change, and health issues. Most importantly, I desire to walk with my clients into the depths of their hearts and to help awaken them to their inherent worth. I believe the counseling process is an art and I consider it a privilege to walk with my clients toward healing.

I work with clients who are dealing with depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, transitions in life, relationships, and LGBTQQIA. I primarily use person-centered, solution focused, and CBT to achieve goals that the client sets.

One of the most difficult questions to answer is often the simplest one: What do you want? We often fixate on the needs and desires of others, losing touch with our own. I believe your desires are powerful beyond belief. They make you unique and hold the key that unlock freedom and opportunity. As we discover them, we can heal blocks, often past trauma, that hold us back, in order to create something new. I'd love to partner with you and explore where you've been and want to go. Together, we will co-create a beautiful path forward and write a compelling next chapter where you play the Hero.