BATON ROUGE COUNSELING ASSOCIATES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor
Mary K. Wright is a Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Child and Family Studies from LSU, and went on to attain a Master's Degree in Counseling from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Mary began working as a substitute counselor to the middle school and high school divisions at Parkview Baptist School, and as a counselor here at Baton Rouge Counseling Associates. Her time at Parkview gained her experience working with adolescents, and their parents.
Mary has worked with clients through stage-of-life transitions, divorce, grief, anxiety, depression, family issues, stress, and managing low self-esteem. Mary's therapy style is to be genuine, straightforward, and she utilizes humor and pop culture references, often. She strives to create a non-judgmental space open for anyone who decides to take the courageous step of pursuing therapy.
Mary utilizes cognitive-behavioral therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and strengths-based therapy to approach counseling. In her spare time, Mary enjoys hanging out with her family-especially her dog-and friends, participating in her church, and indoor rock climbing.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Meagan Cadavid is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She earned her bachelor's degree in Speech Pathology from Louisiana State University in 2012. Meagan continued her education and earned her master's degree in Social Work from Louisiana State University in 2016.
Meagan began working with children and families as a traveling Social Worker in Georgia. She continued her career as a therapist at Baton Rouge Children's Advocacy Center where she gained knowledge and skills to help those with past and current trauma and abuse. She also worked in a multidisciplinary team to better advocate for her clients in all aspects of their lives.
Currently, Meagan is a School Counselor for Parkview Baptist School. Through this experience she has gained skills to provide play and talk therapy for children ranging from elementary school all the way to high school. Meagan has worked with a wide range of clients who have struggled from depression, anxiety, family concerns, sexual abuse/trauma, emotional abuse, human trafficking, etc.
Meagan values the needs and wants of her clients and tailors each treatment plan to specifically fit her clients. She believes in building rapport and treating each person with empathy and respect.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Professional Counselor - Supervisor
Patti Dowling is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor. She earned a BS in Child and Family Studies from Louisiana Tech University in 1996 and a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology from University of Southern Mississippi in 2004. Patti is a Certified Child Life Specialist and a National Certified Counselor.
Patti worked as a Certified Child Life Specialist at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center where she counseled pediatric patients with cancer and in PICU, before becoming the Child Life Director. Patti developed a love for helping children and families navigate difficult life circumstances.
Patti has experience working in a variety of different settings including; an adolescent offender program, a school setting, and a national adoption agency, where she worked with birthparents, adoptive families, and the adopted child.
Patti has over 14 years experience working in private practice. She opened Baton Rouge Counseling Associates in 2012 with a colleague, before become the sole owner in 2021 . Patti has worked with children, families and adult clients with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, chronic illness, grief, adoption, relationship issues, parenting issues, OCD, and personality and mood disorders.
Patti's therapy style is calm, personable and practical. She has a direct approach which she uses to encourage and affect positive change. Patti utilizes cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, therapeutic play, person-centered and even animal-assisted therapies in treating clients. It is not out of the ordinary to find her working alongside one of her ragdoll breed certified therapy animals on any given day.