Professional Experience
Mary Coleman has been a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist for the last twenty-four years, first as an intern, and then as an LMFT. She majored in both English and Psychology at the University of South Carolina. She worked as a writer and marketing director in New York before attending graduate school for Psychology. In 1993, she started at Antioch University in Los Angeles, California, for its emphasis on clinical training.
Mary spent most of her early career working in schools. She founded a consulting company dedicated to conflict resolution programs in schools – its mission was to equip children with the skills to resolve conflicts productively. Mary spent a fair amount of time working in inner-city schools, where she developed her interest in trauma and effective treatment protocols. During that time, she studied at UCLA and became a certified mediator. Mary went on to implement and direct a college counseling program at the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles.
Her specialties include addiction, grief, and trauma therapy – which seem to overlap more often than not. She’s trained in hypnosis and is certified in EMDR: an effective protocol for those who have experienced trauma. Mary enjoys working with people at various stages of their life; she feels it makes her practice more interesting and diverse.
She opened her private practice in 2003 in Los Angeles, where she practiced until her recent move to Nashville, Tennessee. Mary is licensed in both Tennessee and California and continues to work with many of her California clients through video conferencing. She is currently writing a book about addiction and recovery while teaching at Tennessee State University.
Mary is the proud mother of two grown children: one trained in architecture, the other a sonographer specializing in high risk pregnancies. In her free time, she practices yoga and is an avid hiker.
