Welcoming Andrea Siegel, LCSWA to our Therapy Team! by Caroline Wilson

Andrea Siegel, LCSWA

It is my great pleasure to introduce Andrea Siegel, Ph.D., LCSW-A, to the community as she joins us at Out of the Woods! She comes to us with a wide variety of experiences as a clinician, and just some of her clinical interests include life transitions, guilt, shame, and moral injury, and working with erotically marginalized individuals. Andrea’s primary therapeutic specialization is in supporting clients with spirituality, which covers a vast spectrum of desires, goals, and concerns, grounding the therapeutic work in an honoring of a client’s spiritual path.

Andrea reached out to us while contemplating a move back to Western North Carolina, and we were eager to bring her to our team. When I spoke with Andrea in an initial interview, I was so profoundly and genuinely excited by her clinical interests and philosophical approach to the work that it was difficult for me to remain on task. Andrea incorporates her rich lived experiences and background of providing intensive caregiving to loved ones, integrative health and chaplaincy, and international studies into her approach as a clinician. She has a discerning eye and open-hearted vision toward the possibilities of what a therapy can bring to her clients, and has a curiosity and creativity that is readily apparent in how she talks about clinical work. 

Andrea incorporates different cognitive behavioral approaches and Internal Family Systems Therapy into her work. I especially love what she wrote herself on her profile: “Whatever your life experiences, political affiliations, gender identities, or relationship structures, you are warmly welcome here.”

“Warmly welcome here” truly describes Andrea. If you’d like to read more about Andrea, please go here. 

Meet Our Newest Therapist, Tamar Back, M.Ed., LCSWA! by Jamie Brazell

Tamar Back, M.Ed., LCSWA

photo credit: Jacqueline Franquez

I am delighted to introduce our newest therapist, Tamar Back. 

Tamar and I first met over a year ago when she reached out to express interest in Out of the Woods Therapy. Since then we have been plotting and planning for her to join the team and now she’s officially ready to take new clients! 

In my experience with Tamar, I’ve found her to be a fantastic listener who leads with curiosity and a soft, yet confident presence.

She’s excited to work with adult individuals as well as couples, poly-relational clients, and even has this super cool idea of offering therapy for friendships. (Like couples therapy…but for besties).

Tamar graduated from the same Master’s program in Human Sexuality as I had several years prior. I fully and shamelessly admit that I was very excited to talk with another Widener graduate who was interested in moving to Asheville. Tamar completed the dual degree program and earned an MSW in addition to the M.Ed. 

Tamar also grew up in my home state of New Jersey - although I am from the south in the Pine Barrens and Tamar is from the northern part of the Garden State. I was so excited to meet her because of some of the things we shared in common and because her resume displayed an obvious interest in sex therapy, experience as a sex educator for Planned Parenthood, abortion doula, experience helping people navigate sex and sexuality through a cancer diagnosis, pelvic pain, and more. 

Tamar’s availability is pretty rad, too. Lots of clients are looking for evening and weekend options and that can be challenging to find.

Tamar will soon be able to take BCBS insurance, but in the meantime she can accept clients at a private pay rate. Feel free to learn about Tamar in her own words and send an email or appointment request directly from her profile here.

Meet Chelsea Sokolow, LCSWA! (by Jamie Brazell)

Chelsea Sokolow, LCSWA

Many therapists in this town are in the habit of doing a lot of networking with other therapists. While this word - networking - can carry a negative feeling for a lot of people, what it tends to look like for us is a lot more casual and often one-on-one.

I met Chelsea (she/they) for what was supposed to be a “networking” meeting after we were introduced by another clinician whom I deeply admire and respect. I had no idea that our meeting would turn into a job interview.

As I have mentioned before in prior blog posts, one thing I look for when hiring a new therapist to this practice is someone I would want to see myself for therapy. Chelsea is most definitely an obvious fit for our team.

Chelsea is absolutely brilliant, relatable, extremely easy to talk with, diligent about communication, and such a deeply kind, open-hearted human. Chelsea fits in with the values of our practice so well that I am confident that it will take no time at all to feel like this delightful therapist has been with us from the start. 

Our community need for sex-positive, queer-friendly, intersectional-feminist informed therapy feels ever-growing as we navigate what feels like continuous trauma in the collective culture. It deeply saddens me that there is only so much that we can do with the many broken systems that we face in our world. It also fills me with pride and gratitude when I know I have added someone to our team who so strongly exemplifies the mission and values of this practice. 

Learn more about Chelsea and send an email or appointment request here.

Chelsea can currently accept individual therapy clients, from age 13 and up, for private pay. We are waiting for approval for Chelsea to take BCBS insurance in the near future. 

Chelsea’s services are also available in Spanish. :)