Celeste Spates, Counseling Intern
Biography
Celeste is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling student at LaGrange College; she receives her Master’s degree in August 2021. She is pursuing qualifications as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LAPC /LPC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC) while under Dr. Wright’s supervision.
Celeste uses Cognitive Behavioral approaches, Person-Centered techniques, and holistic body/mind spirit interventions which allow for clients to find a direction that is right for them. Believing that each individual is instinctively capable of finding their own answers when given proper guidance and encouragement, Celeste facilitates clients’ journey as they grow from their life experiences and embrace positive, empowering changes. She believes in the positive impact of the client-therapist relationship and sees the connection between the two as key to providing a safe, trusting, and warm environment for growth.
Celeste enjoys helping young adults, ADHD individuals, military veterans, trauma survivors, grieving individuals, and substance abuse clients as they learn to overcome depressive, anxious, disconnected, or trauma-based emotions which impede their progress or push them off the path that is right for them. She sees her role as a helping light that assist clients venture through the darkness that they face, on their journey back to their natural selves by knocking down barriers to personal growth.
Experience
Celeste graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychological Science from LaGrange College, Georgia. She is also near completion of her master’s in clinical Mental Health Counseling at LaGrange College. Celeste has certification in ASIST Suicide Interventions, CPI De-escalation Training, and the Darkness to Light Child Sexual Abuse Training. Celeste has been recently trained in the delivery of Tele-Mental Health Services to address the COVID service delivery dilemma. She has experience working with autistic young adults, court-ordered substance abuse clients, and bipolar and schizophrenic clients through the mental health court-ordered program through Pathways of Troup County. She also has experience doing career development under the LaGrange Housing Authority. She has done some training regarding systemic intergenerational trauma’s impact on African American populations. She has also researched the impact of stimulants on college student populations.
Approach
Celeste pursues a deeper understanding of trauma’s impact and nutrition’s impact on the whole person, reading up on these topics in her spare time. She draws from her personal experiences as a mother of twins and as a former military spouse when helping people navigate transitions in their lives. She is willing to laugh and cry and cheer her clients on to better mental health.
