Counseling, Mediation, Neurofeedback
Carol C. Hughes is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology, a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Virginia Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and both a Level II EMDR specialist and an Imago Relationship Therapist. With more than 1400 hours of specialized training beyond her Doctorate from the College of William and Mary, Carol is an experienced practitioner who offers an unusual breadth of services to her clients.
Carol has integrated the use of techniques such as EMDR, Imago Relationship Therapy, and Biofeedback (inc. Neurofeedback) into her work as a counselor/therapist. Whether working with individuals, couple, or families her goal is to cultivate and support their growth and change at both the individual and systemic level.
Now that Neurofeedback has taken its place among other biofeedback modalities, Carol offers her clients the opportunity to undertake this exciting work. This approach is especially appropriate for clients who are seeking a non-pharmaceutical way to address the symptoms of ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, seizures, migraine headaches, and other brain based problems. Neurofeedback is also a popular choice for seniors wishing to minimize the brain based effects of aging; and students, competitors, and performers seeking to "train" for peak performance.
Carol offers Mediation to two very different populations. In the first case, Carol works with couples that have decided to separate and divorce, but who recognize the value of uncoupling in a minimally destructive and non-polarizing way. Carol facilitates their work together to develop the terms of their separation and divorce. As a former Professor of Developmental Psychology Carol brings a special skill set to the task of mediating successful parenting plans. In the second case, Carol offers mediation to otherwise healthy families who are experiencing interpersonal or intergenerational conflicts. In this instance she works with parents who are experiencing conflict with their teens, grown children in conflict with their parents, and siblings who have not been able to resolve their conflicts with one another. Through mediation she helps them find a common understanding or course of action regarding important decisions as diverse as (a) how to best care for aging parents or (b) when a child of divorced parents, who share legal custody, but disagree on this point may be allowed to drive.
While Counseling and Neurofeedback are both therapeutic in nature, Mediation is best thought of as prevention. As such, it rounds out Carol´s practice, one that utilizes both traditional and innovative strategies to offer both corrective and preventive services.
Certifications / Licenses:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprogramming) Level II, Certification 2004
- Irlen Institute Screener for Scotopic Sensitivity, Certification 2002
- PREP (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) presenter, Certification 1998
- Licensed Professional Counselor, (VA license)1994
- Imago Relationship Therapist, Certification 1994
- Family-Divorce Mediator, (VA Supreme Court License #0562, issued 1993)
Professional Memberships & Associations:
- Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
- Association for Conflict Resolution
- Association for Imago Relationship Therapy
- Brain Othmer Foundation, supporting member
- EEG Spectrum International, affiliate
- International Society for Neuronal Regulation
- Mid-Atlantic Society for Biofeedback and Behavior
- Mid-Atlantic Association of Imago Therapists
- Virginia Association of Clinical Counselors
- Virginia Mediation Network
