Houston Stowell, MPA, LCSW,
she/her/hers
“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.”
Those words from Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen were taped to a computer monitor in my therapist’s office. I remember reading them for the first time as a newly sober woman. Now, that’s what I strive to give others. For me, attention is not just passive listening. It is focusing on what your words, body, memory, and subconscious self are saying. Then we work to turn that in to actions that help you reach your goals that make your life worth living. I want to listen to you and I want to WORK with you. I am drawn to working with clients who want to grow and are open to creating healthy coping skills and mindsets. I also bring humor, transparent honesty, and irreverence into therapy as ways to help shift emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
We are all born with basic trust in others. Through traumatic events we can lose this confidence in ourselves and others. When trauma is not resolved it can be reactivated later in life. Ask yourself: what frightens, triggers, or disorients you most? Do these feelings remind you of anything you experienced earlier in life? Therapy can help us resolve some of this trauma so that we can transition into a more connected existence. Healing trauma is not the only type of transition there is. Perhaps you are new to college, parenthood, or your sweet 3-month-old is now an independent pre-teen? Regardless of the type of change you are going through the aim of our time together is to help you build resilience and clarity.
One of my passions is working with those who are newly sober, in long-term recovery, or are curious about reducing the role substances play in their life. As a person in long-term recovery, I have personal experience building strong foundation manage addiction. As the wife, in-law, and friend of people diagnosed with the disease, I also have insight and understanding into the role the family can play in recovery and can help family members of people who struggle with substances. In my own family I saw the power of education, processing, and guidance from our therapist and the positive impact it made on our family dynamic.
My background includes working as a DBT primary counselor and group counselor at Skyland Trail, in private practice at WholeHeart Psychotherapy, as a group leader at The Summit Wellness Group, with Hope House-a treatment center in downtown Atlanta for homeless men, and in addiction-based research at the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery. Prior to becoming a social worker, I worked in the federal government and in advocacy for non-profits. I have a Bachelor of Arts from Sewanee: The University of the South, a master’s in public administration from The University of Alabama, and a master’s in social work from Kennesaw State University.
Currently, I live on the Westside of Atlanta with my husband, son, and our therapy dog-in-training (she really struggles with doorbells!) We enjoy the Atlanta food scene, traveling, a good TV comedy or historical drama, and pretending we like to hike. I am originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and moved to Atlanta in 2017 by way of Chicago, Washington, DC, and the UK.
If you feel we would be a good fit, please feel free to contact me at: Houston@eastatlantacounseling.com, 404-947-5764, or book services now.
Houston is also trained in a somatic-attachment parenting therapy called CHI for Two.
Houston is located at both our Decatur and Smyrna locations for in-person as well as virtual sessions.