Our Mental Health Therapists in Cary

Sonal brings more than 23 years of clinical experience to her work, offering a warm, client-centered, trauma-informed approach for individuals facing anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, and other emotional challenges. Known for her direct yet deeply compassionate style, she creates a space where clients feel safe, understood, and empowered to explore their healing.

Her background spans crisis centers, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, mental health and recovery-focused PHP/IOP programs, and outpatient therapy in both individual and group settings. She has supported clients of all ages and identities and has a strong passion for group work and community-based healing.

Sonal’s integrative style draws from DBT, CBT, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, ACT, and mindfulness-based practices. While experienced with clients across the lifespan, Sonal especially enjoys working with adults 18 and older as they navigate growth, healing, and meaningful life change.

Ashlynn completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her graduate degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at East Carolina University. With a deep fascination for the inner workings of the brain, she enjoys exploring how thoughts, emotions, and experiences intertwine to shape each person’s worldview. This passion fuels her appreciation for the individuality of every client’s mind and motivates her to create personalized experiences that honor those differences. Ashlynn looks forward to working with clients of all ages, ethnicities, genders, identities, and backgrounds as she continues to grow in her counseling career.

Ashlynn is committed to ensuring that the therapeutic process remains unique and meaningful for each client. Ashlynn works with children 8+ and their family, teens, and adults.  She incorporates a variety of modalities into her practice to provide the most supportive and effective care. Ashlynn is trained in EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). 

Ashlynn strives to maintain a strengths-based approach, uplifting and working with the powerful qualities each client already possesses. Creativity is a vital component of Ashlynn's therapeutic approach, as she enjoys incorporating activities, artistic expression, mindfulness practices, and other creative techniques to support clients in meaningful and engaging ways. She hopes to empower clients to recognize their resilience, harness their strengths, and continue moving toward the goals that matter most to them.

 Skylar is pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling with an emphasis on Addictions Prevention and Treatment Studies at East Carolina University. As an internship student, her clinical interests are grounded in understanding how caregiving roles, chronic illness, and long-term stress shape identity, relationships, and emotional well-being over time. She is particularly drawn to work that explores the interconnected impact of illness, responsibility, and loss on both individuals and couples, and how these experiences influence meaning, belonging, and relational dynamics throughout one’s life. Her approach is informed by a belief that mental health concerns rarely exist in isolation, but instead develop within broader relational, cultural, and systemic contexts. 

Prior to pursuing clinical counseling, Skylar spent eight years working in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, most recently in project management, supply chain, operational excellence, and business operations for a biotech startup researching psychedelic-assisted treatments for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Through this work, she gained firsthand exposure to how health systems, research, and innovation impact well-being at a population level. Over time, however, her professional experiences, combined with personal exposure to caregiving and chronic illness, highlighted for her the often-unseen emotional toll carried by individuals and families, as well as the limitations of addressing well-being without attending to the psychological, relational, and identity-based dimensions of health. This realization, alongside her desire to provide more direct, relationally grounded support to individuals ultimately led to her interest in psychotherapy. 

Skylar is interested in supporting caregivers, individuals living with chronic illness or disability, and those navigating questions of identity and belonging, including biracial individuals. She also has a strong interest in working with couples and individuals experiencing major life transitions such as changes in education, career, marriage, or the transition into parenthood. Her clinical interests further include grief and loss, particularly in supporting parents impacted by miscarriage and other underacknowledged losses, as well as working with individuals in trauma-exposed professions including first responders, military personnel, veterans, and healthcare workers who may experience the cumulative effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress related to their work. 

Book Recommendation: 

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown 

Phillip is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Addictions Specialist with experience supporting adults through a wide range of challenges. He works with individuals navigating substance use, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, and major life transitions. He has experience working with clients engaged in Spravato/Ketamine treatment. Phillip's approach is grounded in evidence-based practices such as CBT, DBT, and motivational interviewing, while also making space for deeper exploration of identity, meaning, and personal values.

A lifelong resident of North Carolina, Phillip brings a strong appreciation for how our lived experiences are shaped by the social and cultural contexts around us. Phillip completed his undergraduate degree in sociology from UNC Asheville, where he focused on issues of difference and inequality, and later pursued graduate training in social work at UNC Wilmington.

Phillip views therapy as a supportive and collaborative space for self-discovery, where your experiences are not looked at in isolation, but understood within the broader context of your relationships, environment, and the systems you navigate every day. Phillip will assist you in exploring challenges with care and compassion, while also building practical skills and a stronger sense of agency. He strives to help you make sense of your experiences in a way that feels empowering and aligned with who you are and what matters most to you.

Phillip's experience spans case management, inpatient, and outpatient settings, allowing him to support clients across different levels of need. He believes that tending to individual well-being is an important step toward creating a more supportive world for everyone, and is honored to be part of that process with the people he works with.

Colleen is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate (LCMHCA) and a Certified Trauma Professional (CPT) who uses a strengths-based approach to help individuals navigate mental health challenges, strengthen their support systems, and achieve personal goals. She specializes in working with children, adolescents, and adults, particularly those managing ADHD, autism, anxiety, and relational issues. Colleen is passionate about supporting the 2S-LGBTQIA+ community, helping individuals build resilience through life transitions and identity exploration, and ultimately guiding them in creating a fulfilling and meaningful life. Her therapeutic practice is deeply rooted in cultural humility, social justice, and anti-racism.

With a career foundation in school counseling and life experience as a queer, neurodivergent woman raised in the southern U.S., Colleen’s approach is informed by her personal journey. She understands the challenges of feeling misunderstood, and fosters a safe, non-judgmental space for clients to explore who they are and how they experience the world.

Colleen integrates various therapeutic modalities, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), tailoring her approach to each individual’s needs. She believes therapy is a collaborative, client-centered process, where humor, authenticity, and empathy are key to the healing journey. Colleen is committed to empowering clients by highlighting their existing strengths and helping them develop skills for lasting, meaningful change.

Book Recommendation:

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

This book serves as a valuable resource for neurodivergent individuals seeking to develop self-compassion in their routines. Davis explores the connections between shame and neurodivergent brains, offering practical strategies for managing daily care tasks amidst ADHD, depression, chronic illness, and more. I appreciate how "care tasks"—any chore, errand, or activity necessary for self-care and maintaining daily life— are framed as morally neutral. As someone with ADHD, this book has transformed the way I approach care tasks, combining actionable tips with reminders to practice self-kindness and approach tasks without judgment. 

People often have experiences in therapy where they feel validated by the therapist, though may not experience the motivation to grow. Cayla’s approach to therapy balances compassion and support with the thoughtful use of challenging difficult patterns. She strives for a collaborative and empowering partnership with clients to support the relationship we have with ourselves and with others. She believes in a direct, supportive and honest therapeutic partnership to create a trusting environment to explore and assist with life’s challenges.

Cayla offers both in person and virtual options for clients 18+ in North Carolina. Cayla’s experience is focused in trauma-informed environments. Clients wishing to gain perspective on and create change related to trauma, eating disorders/relationship with the body, personality disorders and anxiety are a great match for Cayla. She is also open to seeing military members and their families and is a military spouse herself. 

Cayla integrates several approaches in work including Prolonged Exposure (PE), Somatic Experiencing (SE), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness and a strength-based trauma sensitive approach. Cayla has worked previously at the Residential level of care for eating disorder treatment as well as university mental health treatment specializing in short-term solution focused therapy and crisis intervention in addition to resource challenges.