My name is Charles Anderson, although most people call me Chuck. How I got here is–like all stories–kind of complicated.
I spent about 20 years in the technology industry, first as a “Dilbert” engineer, and then as a “pointy-haired boss” (see www.dilbert.com if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Through that experience, I got credit (but no money) for a half-dozen patents and a monstrous addiction to work. I am a recovering workaholic
As a part of my recovery, I decided it was time to do something different, so I went back to school – Mars Hill Graduate School (Now known as The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology www.theseattleschool.edu) to be precise – and earned 2 graduate degrees: Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, and Master of Divinity.
As a counselor, I enjoy working with individuals and couples who are struggling with relational issues, particularly those that show up as non-substance addictions like work, religion, and relationships, and with the struggles associated with mid-life “re-alignments”. I am also interested in working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse and those who love them; and with men who are really serious about getting violence out of their lives, especially violence towards members of their own families.
After opening and running my counseling practice for a while, life took some more detours. I went through the pain of divorce, ended up back in the tech industry for another 5 years, found a new wife, and she and I decided to buy and run a lovely Bed and Breakfast (and Spa) – www.lucillesmountaintopinn.com, if you’re curious.
Now it’s time for something new again – we sold the Inn and we’ve moved 5 times since the beginning of 2020, but we’re settling (hopefully for good) back into the place that’s felt the most like home: the north Georgia mountains..
My personal and professional callings are still evolving, but they are centered around a concept I call “story restoration”. This involves walking through stories (my own, my family’s, my friends’, and my clients’) and learning to embrace them – the good, not-so-good, and even the ugly – and recognizing that while our identities come from those stories, we can still choose who we are and want to become.
As a psychotherapist and spiritual director, my goal is to create a synergy amidst those stories to reveal the glory of being fully human, as each story is uniquely designed to do, while celebrating the mystery of what has not yet been revealed. While I hope for positive behavioral change as a revelation of this internal growth, that isn’t the main focus of therapy. Rather, my desire is to engage with the ongoing process of internal transformation into what each of us was created to be(come).
I am Licensed Professional Counselor by the state of Georgia (License # LPC006090, in the Prof. Coun./Soc. Work/Marriage category – click here to verify with my name and license number). This license requires a Master’s Degree in Counseling, which I earned from The Seattle School in 2007. Further, I carry professional liability insurance from HPSO.