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Arpenik Stepanyan is a Licensed Resident at Light Counseling. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Texas A&M University and furthered her education at Liberty University, where she received her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. During...
Mady Farley is a dedicated Resident Counselor at Light Counseling, holding a Master's degree from Liberty University. She brings a wealth of experience in supporting children, adolescents, young adults, and families as they navigate challenges related to identity,...
Libby is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with NCC credentials in Virginia and South Carolina. She specializes in working with clients of all ages on issues such as depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and spiritual concerns. Certified in premarital/remarital...
Amarachi Nnadozie is a licensed resident therapist passionate about holistic care and supporting others through life’s challenges. She received her undergraduate degree in Music and Worship with a concentration in Pastoral Leadership from Liberty University, which...
“Hello from Minnesota! My name is Tiffany, and I’m so delighted you’re here! Personally, I live in the great, northern Minnesota with my husband, two cats and one dog! My story of how I got to where I am dates to when I was just a little girl. I have had many obstacles, faced numerous health challenges from a skin condition that required consistent doctor appointments and out of 80-90 doctors, no one knew what skin condition I was facing. Each one gave a different diagnosis, which resulted in different medication, only to make my symptoms worse. Along with skin challenges, I’ve also underwent a period of abdominal issues and faced other emotional/mental health challenges over the years that came from these experiences. Despite all these challenges, my parents tried many things to help and provide the care I needed, but they never allowed me to use those struggles to miss out on life. They taught me in various ways to rise above and how to preserve when life gets tough. I remember vividly, my mom would always tell me, “Tiffany, you have a sermon within you that the Lord is preparing, that one day you’ll be able to share.” In my early twenties, this was the onset of a decade long battle between me and God, as I wrestled with him, in the lies that I once believed regarding my self-worth, my self-esteem, my beauty, my desire to be married but struggled with singleness. This was a full decade of sorting out all the lies I had once believed to receiving the truth that God was writing on my heart. The truth of seeing myself as he saw me, through his eyes, as an image barrier and creation by His hands, for His purpose. I had a small idea of who God was then but would later understand it in a much deeper way, as during this decade, while wrestling with God, I got to know him more, on a deeper level. He is a God who cares so deeply, and who is so faithful. One who’ll meet us in our mess, and ready to help us mend those broken pieces back together. Given my story, and the challenges that I have faced, but the perseverance that came from it all, God created my heart to love after people, wherever they’re at and for who He has created them to be.
In college, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Since then, I have had numerous careers that rallied around people of all walks of life, from a direct support professional working with youth to build social, emotional and behavioral skills; to being a vocational coordinator (job coach/developer) working with individuals with disabilities/mental health to seek and retain employment; to case management for a managed care organization in WI, where I worked with individuals with physical disabilities, development/intellectual disabilities and frail elders; to working in a care management role for a counseling agency in International Falls, MN. In the spring of 2023, I enrolled into Center for Christian Coaching, where I spent six months being trained as a Christian Life Coach, receiving that certification in late fall of 2023. Most recently, I am currently working on being board certified as a mental health coach through American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC).
My heart and passion are to Love God and Love people. God is marvelous and wondrously faithful. He sees you; He hears you and He knows you. As your coach, I would be honored to come along side you, explore the possibilities of what God is doing in your life, and where he’s taking you on this journey of life.”
Tiffany McCann is a licensed professional counselor who has worked in mental health for many years. She is passionate about supporting her clients through challenges, adjustments, and life’s challenging situations. She believes having someone to listen makes all the difference. Her focus area is trauma, but she has a passion for meeting you where you are. She wants to help you consider your own strengths, goals, and perspective as you work to move forward.
Martha Meadows is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She earned her undergraduate degree from Virginia State University, where she majored in social work. She also earned her master’s degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in Social Work. For 30 years, she served a fulfilling time with Henrico Mental Health Services as a clinical case manager and clinician. Martha worked diligently to problem solve and seek the most appropriate solutions for a wide range and age of clients, ages 14-80. Her goal is to utilize the sum of her positive experiences in order to be a flickering candle that illuminates the pathway for clients. Martha believes that human warmth, understanding, and compassion work to foster her client’s security, wellbeing, and personal prosperity. Personal counseling has been her life’s work and the legacy she wishes to leave. As she looks back on her career, she feels a resounding sense of personal satisfaction. Martha was born and raised in Forest, VA, and enjoyed Sunday School and Xhoir while growing up in the church. She was named after and strongly influenced by her aunt, who was a minister and pastor, and inspired to have deep love and reverence for God. In her free time, she has also been able to pay it forward as a Youth Advisor.
Matthew has had over 18 years experience collectively working in Clinical Settings, Residential Treatment Facilities, Home Visiting Programs, Outpatient Hospital Mental Health Facilities and Christian Based Counseling Services. As a Mental Health professional, he has had over 10 years experience specifically in clinical settings working in both Outpatient and Chrisitan based counseling services. Matthew co-lead a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Program for Adolescents and Adults working for an Outpatient Mental Health Facility in NY State for 2 years. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a modified type of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others. He also has experience practicing in a Chrisitan Based Counseling Center based out of a Baptist Church in Upstate NY where his Father was the Senior Pastor for 24 years. He was able to see first hand as a Pastor’s son the impact healthy relationships can have on others’ overall functioning through radical genuineness, acceptance, validation and being non-judgemental with those you work with. Matthew is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and works with Individuals, Families , Adolescents, Children and Couples. As an MFT, he works systemically which means he considers his clients’ lives and the problems they present in therapy through a biopsychosocial lens. This means taking into account their mind, their body, and their relationships, and how all of these things affect each other. MFT’S believe we are shaped by where we come from and that informs so much of what we do in other relationships. Matthew utilizes various methods such as CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, Insight Oriented, Psychodynamics and Family Systems approaches to help clients reach and achieve their best self and work towards their life worth living goals.
As a life and mental health coach, Sondra strives to improve her clients’ lives by providing emotional, physical, and spiritual support. Sondra jokingly calls herself an emotion coach or detective. She desires to get to the root cause, pattern, and/or habit of what is hindering people’s lives. She brings truth, hope, and encouragement with a faith-based understanding.
Sondra is a board-certified master mental health coach through the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) with a focus on professional life coaching. (IBCC Certified).
Sondra has coached others in many different aspects of life for over 14 years. Key areas of coaching have been women’s health, birth, postpartum, motherhood/parenting, emotional well-being, career, chronic illness, habits, and faith challenges.
Johnny Dixon is a dedicated, certified master mental health coach specializing in marriage and family services. Johnny has been helping individuals and families in crisis for twenty-six years. He has an academic background in Human Development and Family Studies with an Emphasis on children, youth, and families from Penn State University. He received diplomas in Master Mental Health Coach and Biblical Counseling from Light University. Johnny is certified by the International Board of Christian Care Board of Mental Health and is passionate about helping others heal holistically. Johnny believes life can be different.
Jonathan Durst has more than 20 years of experience as a people helper focusing on serving individuals, families, and organizations. He received his formal education from St. John’s University in Psychology and from Ashland Theological Seminary in Clinical Pastoral Counseling. He is currently licensed in New York as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (L.M.H.C.) and in Virginia as a Licensed Professional Counselor (L.P.C.). Jonathan has served his local church as a youth and an associate pastor prior to his profession in counseling. Early in his career, he had experiences working in several capacities of community mental healthcare in a wide variety of settings. He developed his outpatient counseling experience working at EMERGE Ministries in Akron, Ohio. Jonathan has since worked as a supervisor, clinical director, developed satellite counseling centers, partnered and consulted with churches and organizations, helped train future Christian counselors as an adjunct instructor, provided leadership and mental health training internationally, and has served on a few national mental healthcare committees. Most recently, before coming to Light Counseling, Jonathan was the founder and CEO of Bedrock Counseling Ministries, a Christian outpatient counseling clinic located in Syracuse, New York. It was out of his faith and obedience to God that Jonathan and his family relocated to Virginia for this next chapter of serving others.
Jonathan’s number one ministry is to his family. He strives to love God with all of his heart and is continually broken by both God’s goodness and His direction. He is blessed and honored to be married to Carmen and they have 3 children; Alicia, Matthew, and Gabriela.
Justin Cook is a Licensed Resident in Counseling with over 10 years of experience working in various roles in the mental health field. He completed a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University. He has experience in working with children and adults with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. He has also spent a great deal of his career working as a crisis counselor. Justin strives to have a holistic approach when counseling his clients. He engages in person-centered therapy and utilizes cognitive behavioral techniques to help his clients. He has a passion for helping people make positive decisions and helping them find their purpose in their life journey. In his free time, you will find Justin outside training for Spartan Obstacle Course races, hiking, fishing, and cooking.
LaShell is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist who loves working with young adults, adults, and couples of diverse populations of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. Her mode of therapy is collaborative. LaShell uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused, and Bowenian therapy concepts to journey with individuals who have experienced depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and different mood disorders. Her passion is relationship management, offering pre-marital and marriage counseling, couples counseling, family therapy, and spiritual therapy as a certified Trainer/Facilitator with Prepare-Enrich and Level 1 Gottman certified therapist.
LaShell graduated from Wright State University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and then went to Amridge University, obtaining her Masters’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has worked in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, as a Staff Therapist. She also has worked in churches and hospices as a Chaplain in Georgia and California, offering pastoral counseling and grief/loss therapy.
Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor who received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in professional counseling from Liberty University. She has certifications in several areas, which includes life coaching, biblical counseling, stress/trauma care, premarital counseling, and marriage counseling. Laura is also certified to administer the PREPARE (pre-marriage counseling) and ENRICH (marriage counseling) inventories, which include assessment and skill building. She also has experience as a Grief Share Facilitator. While she lives based on the principles of Christian faith, she is equipped to work with clients from various spiritual backgrounds and incorporate spirituality as requested by the client. Laura also has experience working alongside parents teaching attachment therapy to aid in child development. She realizes that every client is unique and different tools and methods are imperative for each individual. Laura greatly enjoys facilitating self-exploration and personal growth in her clients. She believes that a strong therapeutic alliance is an integral part of the path towards hope and restoration. Laura strives to create an empathetic environment for her clients to heal and uses different methods to help individuals grow. Laura has been married to her husband for more than 30 years and has adult children. She enjoys going to the beach, riding bikes, hiking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Lauren is a Resident Counselor at Light Counseling. She graduated in 2020 from Liberty University. She is married with one child and enjoys volunteering with her church’s praise and worship team. She works with individuals 15-years-old and older. Lauren has a heart and a calling to help people in their journey towards healing from life’s hard circumstances.
Lynnette is a seasoned counselor who has worked for Light Counseling since March of 1999, when she served as the Executive Director. She then moved to Lexington, Kentucky, but she continues to work as a telehealth counselor for the agency. She loves being able to live near family while still providing counseling services. Lynnette focuses on clients of all ages, but her focus is on providing marriage counseling, conflict resolution within families, and helping individuals cope with codependency problems. She also treats a variety of clinical mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, grief, and more. Her therapeutic approach is insight-oriented, cognitive-behavioral, along with family systems, with a biblical perspective. In 2017, 2018, and 2019 Lynnette was voted number one Counselor in Lynchburg in Our Health magazine’s “Best Bedside Manner” edition, which she counts among the greatest honors of her career. As a former basketball player at the University of Kentucky, she and her husband are now season ticket holders and enjoy attending the games at her beloved alma mater. She also has one cat and one dog and is a big animal lover!
Marie says spent most of my life helping people be the best versions of themselves, in one capacity or another. Marie St. Louis is a licensed counselor who has years of professional experience helping clients successfully navigate mental health challenges. Marie enjoys collaborating with clients to develop treatment goals and exploring practical and effective coping strategies to achieve them. She has spent most of her life helping people become the best version of themselves and is passionate about helping her clients heal. Marie provides individual psychotherapy, couples counseling, and group therapy. Her therapeutic approach centers primarily on using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a framework in helping clients better understand their inner world and use that understanding to overcome life challenges. Marie knows that life offers many unexpected twists and turns that oftentimes leave us overwhelmed with distressing emotions and undesirable behaviors that produce brokenness within. Integrating faith and clinical practice, she welcomes you into a judgment-free therapeutic relationship to safely discover, explore, learn, and grow into the man or woman God created you to be – an overcomer!
Bryce Williams is a Licensed Resident at Light Counseling. He is also a pastor of a church, as well as a loving father and husband. Bryce is passionate about supporting others through a therapeutic relationship. He wants to cultivate a space for his clients to heal and grow. This may be through finding stress management techniques, play therapy, and more. In his spare time, he loves reading a good book, walking his dog, or cheering on JMU sports with his family.
Dr. Doug Kowieski serves as the Director of Care & Counseling at a church in N.E. Florida. He is married to his beautiful wife of 30 years. Doug earned his Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling and is a certified Master Mental Health Coach and Pastoral Counselor by the International board of Christian Care. They have four children ranging in age from 16-25 years of age. They also have four dogs that keep them pretty occupied. Doug has a 27 year career in law enforcement and retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. In his spare time he likes to read, go to the beach, play with his dogs, and spend time with his family. Doug has a heart for helping foster and adoptive parents.
Matthew recently graduated with honors from Lancaster Bible College, earning an MA in Clinical Counseling. Over the past three and a half years, he has gained valuable experience working in both behavioral and talk therapy. Matthew has worked with clients across a wide range of ages and needs, including individuals, couples, and families. He is dedicated to providing specialized, client-centered care, using a biblically-based, solution-focused approach to help clients make positive life decisions. Outside of counseling, Matthew enjoys participating in various sports and listening to audiobooks while painting ceramic pottery.
Amy Dillingham is a graduate of Liberty University with her M.A. in Professional Counseling. She has experience working alongside people of all ages. Amy’s goal is to help every person she counsels reach their highest potential using a holistic wellness approach. Amy is passionate about integrating faith into her counseling, while utilizing different therapy techniques, such as play therapy, nutrition, and more. Amy works alongside clients who struggle with anxiety, grief, marriage issues, and more.
Amy Feigel is a Virginia Licensed Professional Counselor and former California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Amy received her pre and post-graduate education from Liberty University and has nearly 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families.
She has served as a Social Worker for Child Protective Services, a Group Facilitator working with sexual abuse survivors through Parents United International, a Mental Health Clinician providing outpatient counseling for at-risk youth, the Director of Member Care for the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), the Director of the Extraordinary Women organization and as a private practice therapist. Amy is currently employed full-time as a therapist at Light Counseling, part-time as an Adjunct Faculty Professor with Liberty University Online, and is also a Special Assistant to the President of the AACC.
As a past recipient of the Servant Leadership Award from the IBPPC, Amy has experience in conducting numerous workshops that provide local communities with mental health education, in-service psycho-education to teaching professionals, and continuing education training for members of the AACC on a variety of topics such as: eating disorders, teen suicide/cutting/self-injury/physical and sexual abuse/depression, anxiety/stress, women’s issues, social networking, and the online generation.
BIO COMING SOON!
Dr. Doug Kowieski serves as the Director of Care & Counseling at a church in N.E. Florida. He is married to his beautiful wife of 30 years. Doug earned his Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling and is a certified Master Mental Health Coach and Pastoral Counselor by the International board of Christian Care. They have four children ranging in age from 16-25 years of age. They also have four dogs that keep them pretty occupied. Doug has a 27 year career in law enforcement and retired from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. In his spare time he likes to read, go to the beach, play with his dogs, and spend time with his family. Doug has a heart for helping foster and adoptive parents.