Sutha Johnson, Ph.D.

Dr. Sutha Johnson (she, her, hers) is a licensed psychologist in the state of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to joining Arbor Psychology Group, Sutha was a psychologist working with adults in individual and group therapy at University of Michigan’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and MARI Rackham Psychological Clinic. Sutha also has MA and BA degrees from the University of Connecticut-Storrs and University of Michigan, respectively.

With training in various clinical settings including her predoctoral internship in psychology at West Virginia University, Sutha specializes in the treatment of trauma for adults (with history of childhood abuse or trauma, sexual assault or abuse, bullying, and others). Some common evidence-based treatments she is trained in and uses for trauma treatment are prolonged exposure, shame resilience, sensorimotor, and cognitive and emotional processing. Sutha also has interest and experience treating OCD and anxiety or phobia using evidence-based approaches such as exposure with response prevention (ERP), mindfulness, self compassion, and ACT through specialized training at the California Psychology Center. Family of origin conflicts, perfectionism, desire to build an authentic relationship with self, eating disorders and body image concerns, and ADHD are among other areas of interest and expertise for Sutha.

In therapy, Sutha believes in the innate humanity that connects her and her clients as individuals, which has honed her ability to closely, compassionately, and curiously listen and hear about her client’s life and lived experiences. No emotion is experienced as “too much” and no thought is heard as “unacceptable” by Sutha. As an interactive therapist, Sutha also promotes insight by offering interpretations, observations, feedback, and psychoeducation. Building trust and always keeping an open mind in sessions where clients are invited to be their whole, authentic selves are central tenets of Sutha’s approach. It is also important to Sutha to collaborate with clients in tailoring treatments and she encourages clients to actively participate in their healing journey. Celebrating clients’ strengths or accomplishments and instilling humor and hope also aid Sutha’s connections to clients. From a technical perspective, Sutha uses an integrative approach combining psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal process, attachment/emotion-focused, and cross-cultural approaches.