Carrie Virginia Pate

Therapy Center

 

Your story isn’t over. Let’s write what’s next.

Welcome and congratulations on taking the first step towards building something new! Whether you are looking to heal old wounds, make sense out of your current situation, or make some minor changes, you need a space. This is natural- both the need to try something new or ask some important questions so your life can become more and the need to have that room to breathe.

When people ask me what therapy is, the most important part of the answer is that space. What it becomes depends on the people doing the work. It is your growth and your life. Here is the dedicated time and place to foster that building work. It’s good to see you.

 
“The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.”
— Rollo May

Carrie V. Pate, PhD, LCSW

Carrie has been a therapist on the Gulf Coast since 2010. A proud W girl, she is then attended the University of Georgia for her MSW (2010) and then earned her PhD at Saybrook University (California) while continuing to serve the families of the Ocean Springs and Biloxi area.

I like to help people find their voices and their best selves. Sometimes stress and fear push us to hurt ourselves and others even more, but when we heal, then we can be better and do better. There is so much potential that people don’t see in themselves, and it is a gift when people find that glimmer and reach for it. I was often pretty quiet until I learned that I could say more, and I like to help other people find their own value and their ability to say and do what moves forward. More than anything, I enjoy seeing people develop into themselves given the space when they give themselves permission. Sometimes we have to retrain ourselves to do that, to reclaim that freedom, and that tends to bring out more inner strengths and growth.

This can be a process of unlearning and highly social. Think of everything you ever learned. Did you learn every skill and lesson isolated by yourself, or did someone help you, teach you, influence you, for better or worse? Did you see someone do it and figure it out? We don’t learn and change by magic, no matter how independent and strong we are, but by exposure to a new idea, by fostering a space to create learning and change. I used to think it wasn’t right if I hadn’t done it the hard way- why is that better if there is something more effective? Much the same way, connecting with others, even getting assistance from those around us, is not a sign of weakness but instead a fostering of community and connection that drives us into further potential and health.

The past is not your entire destiny. You decide what comes next.

Professional Background

License: LCSW Mississippi 2012 (LMSW 2010)

Bachelors Psychology/English Mississippi University for Women, 2007

Master of Social Work; Marriage and Family Certificate University of Georgia, 2010

PhD Psychology: Transpersonal, Existential, and Humanistic Psychology; Certificate Dream Studies Saybrook University, 2017 (Dissertation: The Impact of Existential and Creative Processes the Development of Posttraumatic Growth: A Narrative Inquiry)

Associations, Certifications, Additional Training:

National Association of Social Workers, American Psychological Association, American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, Clinical Hypnosis Association, Functional Neurological Disorder Society, Functional Neurological Disorder Collaborative of California, Mindfulness certification, Financial Social Work certification, Yapko 100 Hour Process Oriented Hypnosis Training 2022, 2023

“Real freedom exists in the ability to pause between stimulus and response, and in that pause, choose. ”
— Rollo May

Rooted in Insight. Growing on Your Terms.