Meet Tamara Ancona, MA, LPC
Tamara Ancona has a Master of Arts in Psychology with a Clinical Counseling Specialty and holds her certification as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Georgia. Her area of specialty prior to establishing her educational consulting practice has included counseling individuals and families in the acute care (Peachford and Brawner Psychiatric Hospitals), corporate (AT&T, Lucent Technologies, GA Perimeter College, and General Motors) and private practice settings (Emory University Counseling Affiliate). She also has vast experience facilitating therapeutic, educational and experiential groups with both the adult and teen populations
Since 1998, her focus as an educational consultant has been to provide families within the Southern Region and across the United States with distinct educational options or therapeutic alternatives for their struggling teen or young adult children. Tamara spends over 25% of her time visiting and evaluating schools and programs across the United States and hence understands their unique offerings and suitability essential to addressing the individual needs of each of her clients. She brings skill and expertise to serving those with specialized needs.
She is the co-founder of Family Connect Assessment™, a family assessment process, co-designed with nationally known parent specialist, Dr. Brooke Judkins-Farrell which focuses on understanding the unique relational structure within a family, its parental and intergenerational dynamics and the necessary clinical alignment for its well being. Industry professionals continue to recognize her precedent for facilitating excellent family care.
Prior to this, Tamara’s innovative and supportive approach to working with her families helped to establish the first local parent support group here in Atlanta (Fall, 2006) and one of the first of its kind Nationwide. This set precedence for other colleagues to follow suite and offer an even greater layer of service to the community at large. This foresight and responsiveness to the needs of her clients reflect the caliber of her professional expertise and steadfast commitment to helping her families.
Her speaking engagements across the Southeast and Nationwide have included:
- Parent Teacher Associations (Public & Private School Sectors)
- Youth Development Groups
- Corporate Employee Assistance Alliances
- Therapeutic Residential Facilities
- Professional Conferences
- Specialist Panels
She is an active member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), the American Counseling Association (ACA), Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia (LDAG) and the Licensed Professional Counselors Association-Georgia Chapter (LPCA). She sits on the advisory board of Choose Mental Health (www.choosementalhealth.org), a not-for-profit organization designed specifically for connecting children and families to mental health resources. She is a past advisory board member of Saving Teens in Crisis (www.savingteens.org).
Her professional affiliations are with the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), Small Boarding School Association (SBSA), and numerous Parent Teacher Associations throughout Georgia (PTA).