Clinician Bios

Brunswick Location

Genie Fleet, LPC, PMH-C, CCATP

Genie Nall Fleet is a native of South Georgia and currently resides in Brunswick, GA with her 4 pets, young daughter, and husband. She has a passion for working with individuals, couples, and families struggling with depression, anxiety, substance abuse, relational distress, and perinatal mental health issues.

Genie completed her BA in Psychology from Georgia Southern University in 2008. She then specialized in working with women, men, and teenagers suffering from addictive disease as a Substance Abuse and Crisis Management Counselor at an inpatient, residential treatment facility for 2 years before returning to complete her M.Ed in Clinical Counseling from Georgia Southern University in 2012.

Since beginning private practice in 2013, she has focused, but not limited, her skill set to working with women’s issues, gender identity, sexuality, addiction, and trauma issues impacting mental health. Genie bases her therapy approach in utilizing a Client Centered approach while using CBT, REBT, DBT, and Solution Focused modalities to treat the client’s presenting problem. Genie holds additional certifications in perinatal mood disorders, including postpartum and antenatal depression, anxiety, and OCD. In addition she specializes in clinical anxiety disorders, formally trained in ERP ( Exposure and Response Prevention).

Genie encourages each client to take an active and engaged approach in their treatment. She meets each client’s need with compassion and empathy while gently challenging one to look at the “hard truths” associated with their particular struggles. Working with Genie will enable you to form healthier thinking patterns to cope with the variety of life’s continuous struggles. She will be a gentle guide to aiding in your transformation to a healthier, happier you.

Alison Jimenez, LPC, CPCS

Alison moved to the Golden Isles in 2016. She completed her BA in Psychology from the University of New Orleans and furthered her education with Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling from Our Lady of Holy Cross College in 2005.

Alison has over 14 years of experience in counseling those suffering from a variety of issues including mood disorders such as grief, anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder as well as behavior disorders such as Impulse Control and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. She has also worked extensively with children who have been abused and neglected and suffer from the trauma they endured in the formative years of their life. Alison provides individual, group and family therapy to children, adolescents, adults, couples and families in an outpatient setting.

Alison works from a Client Centered approach and incorporates techniques including CBT, mindfulness, sandtray and play therapy to create a safe, trusting environment that engages the client and promotes insight into thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Alison will work with you to tailor an individualized treatment plan that will help you reach your goals, promote meaningful change and increase healthy coping strategies.

Alison is committed to helping people reach their life goals so that they may live to their potential and enjoy living life (and its little bumps) along the way.

Mary Barnes, LPC, RPT

Mary Barnes is a native to Brunswick, GA and has a passion for working with children, adolescents, young adults, and their families to establish healthy relationships and coping strategies. She completed her graduate work at Valdosta State University with an M.S. in Clinical/Counseling Psychology. Coursework emphasis was placed on Early Childhood and Adolescent development and therapeutic interventions. Her background includes providing individual, group, and family therapy to children and adolescents along with their families in an outpatient setting, school based programs, and residential facility. Mary holds additional certifications as a Registered Play Therapist and as a Trust Based Relational Intervention Practitioner. Mary is also certified in Trauma Focused CBT and specializes in ADHD interventions.

Mary utilizes a client centered approach bringing in various evidence based treatment modalities including Play Therapy, Sandtray Therapy, Family Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She has extensive background and knowledge in effective approaches for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Developmental Delays. Mary also specializes in the recognition and intervention of Early Childhood Trauma, Adoption, Family Separation, Attachment Disorder as well as behavioral and social problems related to Anxiety, Depression, and Bipolar Disorder.

Working together with Mary, families will find a safe, engaging environment to develop insight into thoughts, feelings, and habits to promote healthy thought patterns and increase healthy coping strategies in order to maximize individual and family effectiveness and wellbeing.

Aaron Coots, LCSW

Aaron completed his Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Kentucky in 2008. He has over a decade of clinical experience across a variety of settings including correctional settings, outpatient specialty clinics, crisis intervention, inpatient psychiatric, mental health training for law enforcement, and private practice. He has a broad range of clinical experience working with individuals and groups across the life span in the following areas:

Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Anxiety Disorders
Behavioral and Discipline Challenges
Self-Harm Behavior
Complicated Grief Reactions
Trauma and Abuse
Family and Relationship Issues
Anger and Stress Management
Suicide Assessment and Risk Reduction
Couple’s Conflict
Self-Image and Self-Esteem Issues
Addictive Diseases

Aaron’s approach emphasizes the mutual development of goals for therapy and provision of ongoing evaluation of the therapeutic approach. Aaron is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Reality Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Crisis Intervention. Aaron is invested in an approach emphasizing a more integrative, dynamic, and holistic approach to mental health

Claira Austin, LPC

Claira moved to Golden Isles in 2015. She completed her Master’s at Georgia Southern University in 2018. She has experience working with children, adolescents, and young adults. She assists individuals to become empowered to overcome personal obstacles by building a trusting relationship in a safe non-judgemental environment, while teaching individuals usable skills to decrease negative symptoms.

Claira operates from a holistic approach and adapts to the needs of each client. She believes that the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important and healing aspects of therapy. She uses a variety of therapeutic approaches to meet the needs of the individual. Her approaches include cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy techniques, strengths-based therapy, and EMDR therapy.

Claira provides EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. EMDR therapy is a helpful treatment for disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, and other distressing life experiences.

Claira is dedicated to helping individuals and families meet their goals and to providing a safe space for growth.

S. Forrest Cowan, LPC

S. Forrest Cowan is both a father and family advocate who moved to the Golden Isles in 2008 to pursue a career in the mental health field. Early in his academic career, he developed a passion for helping others based on his own personal growth and self-understanding. He is driven to help his clients meet their maximum potential regardless of whether it’s personal awareness, academic achievement, career development, or comfort in social settings.

Forrest obtained his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology from Kennesaw State University in 2007 and continued his academic journey, by obtaining a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Counselor Education from Georgia Southern University in 2011.

He has over 13 years of experience working directly with children, adolescents, and adults in a therapeutic environment. Throughout his career as a mental health professional, he has conducted individual therapy, group counseling, and parent education services for several organizations in the Golden Isles.

He utilizes a client-centered approach to wellness through implementation of several therapeutic techniques. These include: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), and Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT).

Forrest has an extensive background in counseling methodologies used to treat mood disorders (e.g., Clinical Depression, Dysthymia, Bipolar Disorder) and neurological disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Intellectual Disorders. He has also worked with clients experiencing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Forrest provides an empathic counseling style that fosters client trust, comfort, and interaction that ultimately leads to effective and productive treatment outcomes. He will work alongside you to develop an individual treatment plan that empowers and challenges you to meet your personal goals and realize positive change in your life.

Megan Beard, LAPC

Megan Beard is a proud native of Brunswick, GA with a passion for walking alongside people wherever they are in their journey. She is a graduate of the College of Coastal Georgia with a Bachelors in Psychology as well as a graduate of Liberty University with a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

She has clinical experience working in acute crisis care, residential care, and private practice. In each of these settings Megan has primarily worked with adolescents and young adults. This was her passion long before it became her profession, serving young people in many non-profit and volunteer capacities.

Megan utilizes a client-centered approach that prioritizes a strong therapeutic relationship in order to reach goals and achieve desired improvement. She tailors her modality to the needs of the client, but has experience with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and existential therapy. Put simply, she loves people and considers it an honor to hold their stories.

When she is not in the counseling room, she is the wife to her very best friend and mother to three wild and beautiful children. She enjoys reading, writing, chatting with friends, and soaking in all the beauty these Golden Isles have to offer.

Cassandra Brown, LPC

Cassandra received her MA degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, and her BA degree in Sociology from Lee University in Cleveland TN.

Cassandra is passionate in helping women overcome personal struggles such as self-esteem, depression, anxiety, fear, self-worth, body image, and the like. Cassandra also passionately works with people from ages 6+, male and female, who struggle with issues such family issues, behavioral issues, life transitions, women’s issues, and other various stressors, to gain inner healing. Her desire and passion are to help clients gain a healthy perspective on their lives and who they are as a person by using a holistic approach to counseling, as well as a Christ centered approach to those who request it.

Cassandra is originally from Canada, but currently resides in the Brunswick area and serves alongside her husband as a youth leader in their church in Saint Mary’s Georgia.

Maria Hane, LASW

Maria received her B.A. in Communications and Psychology from the University of North Florida and recently earned a Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University to pursue a clinical practice in the Golden Isles area.

Maria’s experience in community engagement, advocacy, and policy development deepened her desire to connect and support others at a more personal level through individual counseling. She integrates a collaborative and problem-solving approach with empathy and warm acceptance to create a welcoming client-centered practice. Her experience working with diverse populations and survivors of sexual violence helped shape a caring, nonjudgmental, and intuitive therapeutic space specializing in trauma-informed care for women and adolescents. Maria is passionate about honoring each client’s unique life experiences and supporting them to gain the awareness and coping skills they need to improve their well-being. She is dedicated to the idea that every client is the expert in their life and it is her role to accompany them on their journey to define and achieve their therapeutic goals.

The arts, culture, and nature inspire and ground Maria’s free time. She enjoys backpacking treks in the Appalachian mountains, reading and learning about history and diverse cultures through travel, museums, and volunteer work, and hiking and camping with her family and friends. Maria loves the Coastal Georgia area for its natural beauty, history, and sense of community.

Carlee Owens, LMFT

Carlee is a native to the Golden Isles who has a passion for empowering families and individuals to reach their desired outcomes and full potential. She received her BS in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Alabama in 2015 and completed her MA in Marriage and Family Therapy at Mercer University in 2018.

Carlee has experience working with children, teens, and adults, including couples. She is a client-centered therapist, believing everyone possesses unique strengths which can be highlighted and utilized in therapy. Carlee applies CBT and DBT informed approaches (Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy) along with other strength-based techniques to help clients maximize overall wellbeing. Her clients typically struggle with anxiety and stress management, depression, life transitions, emotion regulation, and LGBTQIA+ related issues.

Carlee utilizes a child’s natural language of play as well as a nurturing and empathetic relationship to increase self-esteem, develop appropriate coping skills, decrease angry or anxious behaviors, and learn self-control while nurturing their creativity. As a therapist to teens, Carlee can help to decrease anxiety and depression symptoms, work through difficult periods in their lives, and cultivate hope for their future. Carlee utilizes play, art, sand tray, and other creative interventions to allow for expression of emotions. She views therapy through a systemic lens, often inviting the family system in therapy.

Carlee strives to create a collaborative working relationship that remains focused on your goals. She is a LGBTQIA+ affirming therapist.

Laura Lee, LAPC

Laura provides a safe space for all clients to explore & process their thoughts, behaviors, and experiences. She is open, warm, accepting, and challenging. The hope for healing is ever present and it is her aim to provide a space for clients to tell their stories and to engage in the process of creating and pursing the story they want to experience.

Laura works with children aged 5yrs. and up, adolescents, teens, young adults, adults, and the families of children & teens with a variety of issues including ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Her therapeutic orientation is rooted in CBT and SFBT. Laura also uses DBT skills based and person centered approaches.

Laura completed her Masters of Science in clinical mental health counseling at Walden University and her undergraduate (BS) in psychology at Troy University.

St. Marys Location

Echo Troop, LCSW

Echo moved to the Golden Isles in 2021. She completed her Masters in Social Work at the University of Nevada Reno in 2016. Echo has worked with school and court systems and at multiple levels of care, including acute inpatient stabilization, residential treatment, intensive outpatient, and outpatient settings. She specializes in working with adolescents and adults with anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, trauma, substance use (including Medication-Assisted Treatment), and relational issues.

Echo utilizes a client-centered approach and believes each individual, couple and family brings their own unique stories, skills and strengths to build upon during their work together. Echo empowers clients to increase awareness and skill building through incorporating multiple therapeutic modalities for trauma informed care and skill development, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Act), Solution Focused Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing. She is passionate about people and is honored to be a part of others’ journey.

Outside of the office, Echo loves to be in nature, and is often found walking the beaches of the Golden Isles, tromping through the woods, and exploring new cities and trails whenever she is able.

Brittany Spradlin (Hubbart), LPC

“When holding space for change and projection towards health, I believe we must look at all aspects of people’s being- the mental, biological, emotional, spiritual, and cultural- to address issues being experienced.”

As a Mental Health Counselor, Brittany is currently working towards her PhD in Forensic Psychology with a specialization in personality disorders, and both trauma related and behavioral disorders. Additional experience includes working with co-occurring substance, physical, or cognitive disorders; developmental disabilities; aggressive behaviors; high acuity of symptomatology; mental health symptoms that have a poor response to treatment with medication; traumatic brain injuries; MI&D status or other legal issues.

Building a positive professional relationship is the cornerstone of effective therapy. To create a meaningful connection, Brittany brings authenticity, candor, and humor. Brittany’s therapeutic approach is influenced by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Principles, Narrative Therapy Techniques and mindfulness practices.

St Simons Location

Justin Galloway, LPC

Hi my name is Justin. I am originally from Alabama and currently live in Townsend, GA. I am licensed in four states and provide services through ReWritten Counseling. I work out of the St. Simons Island office but also provide tele-therapy services for those who are busy or would prefer to meet in the comfort of their own home. I lived on the Navajo Reservation in Utah for 4 years serving as a missionary and counselor. I have also worked and lived in Virginia and Mississippi.

I completed my education at Auburn University. I hold a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Middle Childhood and Adolescence. I completed my M.Ed. in Community Agency Counseling. Since entering the field I have worked in a variety of therapeutic environments including day treatment, residential facilities, outpatient mental health, school based counseling, high school guidance counseling and intensive in-home therapy.

My areas of focus and expertise include counseling with children, adolescents, and young adults. I work with people across the entire lifespan. I have extensive experience with traumatic events, parenting skills, parent-child relationships, teen and young adult substance abuse, behavior disorders, marital counseling and men’s issues. I am also a Trust Based Relational Intervention Educator through Texas Christian University for foster and adoptive families and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Trainer through LivingWorks.

Our Therapists