Shonda Pertilla

Hi!

I'm Shonda J. Pertilla, MA, LPC, NCC, I'm a licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years of experience in the mental health field. My background includes a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology, as well as Masters level coursework in Chinese Medicine. Earlier in my career I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design and worked in the field for 10 years. Interior Design continues to inform my interest in how environments and relationships shape development across the lifespan.

I have a particular interest in working with adult women exploring identity, relational patterns, and long-standing dynamics shaped within early caregiving relationships, in particular, the Mother-Daughter bond.

I am licensed to practice in Georgia and Washington, D.C., and offer secure telehealth sessions for clients in both locations. In-person therapy is offered in Georgia only.

I view emotional and relational challenges within the context of development, relationship, and adaptation.

Many of the patterns that bring individuals to therapy, such as persistent anxiety, over-responsibility, or difficulty in relationships. are understood as adaptive responses to earlier family, cultural, or environmental conditions. These responses often served important protective functions at one time, but may no longer support current needs or wellbeing.

My approach integrates principles from depth-oriented psychology, somatic awareness, and Chinese Medicine to explore how inherited relational dynamics, particularly within early caregiving relationships – shape identity, emotional life, and capacity for autonomy.

I attend to recurring interpersonal patterns, embodied experience, and symbolic expression as meaningful clinical data. Treatment is oriented toward improving self-awareness, relational clarity, and alignment between one's values, and lived experience.

You can expect to feel deeply seen and gently guided, not rushed, not fixed, but supported in reconnecting with your true self.

My presence is calm, grounded and compassionate, yet direct, which helps clients to feel emotionally safe, spiritually held, while also being challenged to grow and expand your sense of self and value.

Each session is an invitation to slow down, tune in, and explore what's really happening beneath the surface. Whether we're working through trauma, stress, grief, or emotional distress, I can help you:

(1)name what you';re feeling

(2) identify core wounds or stuck patterns that may be operating subconsciously

(3) regulate the nervous system through breathwork, body awareness, or grounding practices

(4) explore meaningful patterns, dreams or emotional insights that arise

(5) explore and get a better understanding from systemic and spiritual perspective.

Clients often say they feel calmer, clearer, inspired and more spiritually aligned after session. My work isn't about quick, cookie cutter fixes. It's about gently peeling back the layers, returning to truth, restoring balance, and honoring the sacred story of your life.