Therapy in SouthPark, Charlotte, NC
The calendar is full again. Work, the kids’ activities, the dinner you are hosting, the workout you keep meaning to get to. From the outside, the SouthPark life looks like the one everyone is supposed to want, and on most days, you would agree. Yet lately you have been moving through it slightly removed, as if watching yourself manage a life rather than living inside it.
That gap between how things look and how they feel is something we hear often from people in SouthPark. This is one of Charlotte’s most affluent areas, home to executives, established professionals, and busy families clustered around the city’s second-largest business district and the SouthPark Mall. The resources are there. So are the pressures, including high performance at work, high expectations at home, and very little room left over for yourself.
We are close, only a couple of miles from SouthPark, a short drive up Park Road to our office at 4108 Park Road near the Park Road Shopping Center. For families searching for a therapist in SouthPark who can work with more than one member of the household, that proximity makes consistency realistic.
Care shaped around the individual
John Burns, MSW, LCSW, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, founded Montgomery Counseling Group on a conviction drawn from psychiatrist Milton Erickson, that every person’s map of the world is as unique as a thumbprint. We build the work from the specifics of your life and what it is asking of you, rather than from a standard program.
For SouthPark clients, the work frequently centers on:
- Anxiety and the constant background calculation of keeping everything running.
- Strain in marriages and families, where couples and family therapy gives the relationship its own dedicated space.
- Depression that can feel especially isolating when life on paper looks like it should make you happy.
- Trauma therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with John Burns, MSW, LCSW, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, for what has not been resolved on its own.
Parents often ask about their children, too. We offer therapy for children and adolescents, with clinicians who work specifically with younger clients and help them feel safe enough to open up.
When the strain belongs to the whole household
Sometimes the person who books the first appointment is the one with the bandwidth to call, rather than the one who is struggling most. That is fine. We can help you think through what the family needs and who might benefit from support, without turning it into a referendum on anyone. Often, the strain in a home is shared, even when only one person names it out loud, and starting somewhere matters more than starting in exactly the right place. You do not need a tidy explanation of what is wrong before you reach out. A first conversation can help sort out what is going on and where support would make the most difference, whether that turns out to be one person, a couple, or the family as a whole.
A pattern family therapy recognizes
Family systems theory describes a familiar pattern: the person whose difficulties bring a family into therapy frequently stands in for larger strains within the family. A family under pressure will often locate the problem in one person, sometimes a teenager, sometimes a spouse, because pointing at one person’s struggle is more manageable than looking at the pattern running through the whole system. That choice is rarely a conscious one.
In practice, a family’s first instinct walking in may be that the struggle belongs to one person alone. Family therapy takes that instinct seriously and also looks wider, at how the household works as a whole, so support lands where it can make the most difference.
Support for more than one member of the household
Montgomery Counseling Group is a multi-clinician practice, which matters for SouthPark families looking for more than one kind of support in one place. Michelle Daley, LCMHC, a Senior Clinician and EMDR Trained Clinician who is trained in Play Therapy, works with children and adolescents. Taylor Banner, LCSWA, works with couples and families, drawing on Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and Structural Family Therapy (SFT). Adults, couples, teens, and children can each have their own clinician under one roof.
Your clinical team
John Burns, MSW, LCSW, EMDRIA Approved Consultant
John works with adults on the long-term effects of complex and developmental trauma. He uses EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Ericksonian Clinical Hypnosis in his practice.
Naila McConnell, LCMHCA
Naila McConnell, Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist, works with adults, children, adolescents, couples, and families, and her practice addresses mental health and substance use concerns.
Javontae Bradley, LCMHCA
Javonate Bradley works with men's issues, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive psychotherapy. He works with individuals experiencing anger, relational stress, and the emotional patterns that develop when there is no framework for processing them.
Taylor Banner, LCSWA
Taylor Banner works with individuals, couples, and families using Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and Structural Family Therapy (SFT). Her work also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based approaches.
LCMHC with Michelle Daley, LCMHC, Senior Clinician
Michelle Daley, works with children and adolescents. She is an EMDR Trained Clinician and is trained in Play Therapy.
Meredith Turner-Toth, LCSW, Senior Clinician
Meredith Turner-Toth works with adolescents and adults on depression, anxiety, grief, OCD, life transitions, relationship stress, and trauma. She is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
What to expect from a first session
The first conversation is a free 20-minute consultation. The first full session is a 90-minute Initial Assessment, mostly focused on understanding your situation. Sessions after that are generally 60 minutes. Our aim is to work effectively and then step back, available if things surface again later.
Fees, insurance, and getting started
We are in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Magellan, Medicare, and United Healthcare. For other plans, we bill out-of-network claims on your behalf, and a sliding scale based on income is available. For self-pay, the 90-minute Initial Assessment is $200, and sessions after that are generally 60 minutes at $150. The first conversation is a free 20-minute consultation, where fees and coverage can be discussed. Full details are on our rates and insurance page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you offer couples counseling?
Yes. Many SouthPark clients come in as a couple to work on communication, connection, and the pressures that build in busy households.
Can the whole family be supported in one practice?
Often, yes. With a team of clinicians and services for adults, couples, teens, and children, families can find more than one kind of support in the same place.
How far is the office from SouthPark Mall?
Roughly a couple of miles up Park Road, usually under ten minutes.
My spouse doesn't think we need therapy, but I do. What should I do?
A consultation for yourself is a reasonable first step. One person beginning the work often changes things at home enough that the other person becomes more open to it later, and agreement from everyone in the house is not a requirement for starting.
Do you have evening hours?
Yes. Several clinicians hold evening hours, which helps SouthPark clients fit sessions around work and family schedules.
Is a therapist different from an executive coach?
Yes. A therapist is a licensed clinician whose training covers anxiety, depression, trauma, and family patterns, while a coach generally focuses on goals and performance and does not hold a clinical license. If what keeps surfacing is a pattern in your inner life or your relationships, therapy is built for that. If you are looking only for accountability toward a specific goal, a coach may be the better fit, and a free consultation can help you sort out which describes your situation.
Ready when you are
Call (980) 949-8990 or book a free consultation online. Montgomery Counseling Group, 4108 Park Road, Suite 410, Charlotte, NC 28209.