Lisa Matthews, Ph.D.
specializations
Relationship & Family Issues
College Students
Young Professionals &Adults
Life Transitions
Anxiety, OCD, & Depression
Women’s Issues
Postpartum Adjustment Issues
Adoption & Foster Care
Spiritual Wellness & Concerns
Trained in EMDR, ACT, and EFT
Lisa is a licensed professional counselor and has been in the counseling profession since 2008. Lisa loves her work and has a passion for helping people find emotional wholeness in the midst of brokenness. She holds a Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of Tennessee with a special emphasis on couple and family relationships and postpartum adjustment. Lisa counsels from a relational model that emphasizes the importance of acceptance, courage, and connection with others as pathways to healing.
From her own personal experiences in counseling and in counseling others, Lisa has come to believe that hope, redemption, and restoration can become part of every person’s story. Lisa believes that emotions can be a gift from God, given to reflect His glory and help us live rich and meaningful lives in a broken world. Instead, many people find themselves struggling with guilt, shame, sadness, fear, hurt, and loneliness. Lisa believes it is her job as your counselor to listen, encourage, and lovingly challenge you while walking alongside you on your journey toward freedom and wholeness.
Lisa is experienced in working with clients in all adult stages of life, including individuals, couples, and families dealing with a variety of issues. Her areas of focus include: anxiety & OCD, depression, guilt, shame, unforgiveness, spiritual concerns, loneliness, relational and familial conflict, adjusting to change and life transitions, adoption and foster care, postpartum adjustment, and trauma.
Lisa and her husband Ryan have made Knoxville their home for more than 10 years. They are parents to two daughters and have fostered children from early adolescence through young adulthood. Lisa is well acquainted with the joys and challenges of foster and adoptive care, from both a personal and professional perspective. Her own experiences and struggles have deepened her ability to empathize, understand, and have compassion for the deeply complex nature of parenting, especially in foster and adoptive relationships.
In addition to her work, family, and friends, Lisa enjoys fellowship with her downtown neighborhood community, cooking and eating new foods, traveling, reading, and spending time outside. Lisa would be honored to work alongside you as you begin your journey in counseling.
An Excerpt from Lisa’s Counseling Philosophy:
“My desire is to help my client’s live rich and meaningful lives despite the inevitable pain and struggles we all face. Our emotions are a gift from God, meant to reflect the vastness of His glory, given to help us live fully in a broken world. Instead, so many of us struggle with guilt, shame, sadness, fear, hurt, numbness, and loneliness. Author Chip Dodd describes this poignantly:
We binge on multiple distractions so we don’t feel lonely.
We drink excessively because we don’t believe there is anything better.
We amass power so we won’t feel afraid.
We suffer depression to escape from anger.
We practice quid pro quo as an illusion of intimacy.
We fight for the status quo to keep from facing our fear, or we fight for change to avoid the pain of waiting.
We go to church worshiping the ritual that allows us to safely avoid knowing God.
We do all these things to avoid relationships with our hearts, others’ hearts, and God’s heart.
- Excerpt taken from: The Voice of the Heart: A Call to Full Living, by Chip Dodd (2014, p 25-26)
The pathway to healing is not an easy journey, and it requires tremendous courage and strength. If you find yourself identifying with any of the statements above, I would love to walk with you on your journey toward freedom and wholeness.”