Ms. Carpenter has a master’s degree in Human Development as well as a certificate in Infant Mental Health from Wayne State University and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Foundation. In 2017, Ms. Carpenter expects to earn a Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Studies with a specialization in Couple & Family Therapy from Michigan State University. She is an adjunct professor at Eastern Michigan University in the Leadership and Counseling Department. Before she began the doctoral program at Michigan State, Ms. Carpenter worked for eighteen years as a bilingual (Spanish/English) counselor for individuals, families, and groups at various nonprofit agencies in Pennsylvania and Michigan. She has extensive experience working with survivors of sexual assault, partner violence, and childhood abuse; her clinical experience includes working with individual, couples, families and groups of all ages from the LGBTQ communities, Latino populations, victims of discrimination or crime, and survivors of childhood, elder, and partner abuse. She has significant training and expertise working with families and couples using a systemic approach.
In therapy, Ms. Carpenter’s approach is based on positive psychology and strength-focused approaches that facilitate positive outcomes for her clients. Her specialties include working with clients who struggle with the effects of trauma, family relationship and communication stress, depression or anxiety, shifts in identities (e.g., the developmental transitions from couplehood to parenthood, work to retirement) and feelings about their own or important other’s sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions.
Ms. Carpenter has advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, an approach based on attachment theory. Rigorous research studies have shown that EFT is effective with individual, couple, and family clients involved in therapy (see http://www.iceeft.com/index.php/eft-research for more information). Ms. Carpenter’s ultimate goal as a therapist is to provide empathic and effective therapeutic services for clients so that they can enjoy healthy and happy relationships with important others and with themselves. ¬For further information, visit www.georgiacarpenter.org.
