Hey there, everyone! It's Holly Blalock, and I am super excited to be a new therapist on the Pacifica Counseling & Psychiatry team. I'm really looking forward to learning and growing alongside such talented and passionate colleagues. The dedication and commitment of the clinicians here are truly inspiring, and I feel honored to be a part of this team.
A bit about me! I am from a small town in Northeast Georgia known as Hartwell, or as many recognize it, Lake Hartwell. My parents divorced when I was around three or four years old, which left me and my older brother to be raised by a single parent: my father. Amidst the trials of single parenthood, my father imparted invaluable lessons of integrity, ambition, and virtuous living. His remarkable character and guidance paved my path toward a career in therapy.
However, it was not always that simple for me. All my life, I thought I wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. In high school, I attended St. George’s Medical School in Grenada, West Indies, for a medical camp where I worked alongside the island's physicians and surgeons. This trip ignited my passion for helping others and led me to pursue a pre-medical major in my undergraduate studies. So, I began studying for medical school entrance exams and interning for an anesthesiologist when it was suggested that if I wanted to have my own family or more genuine talking time with patients, heart surgery might not be the right career for me. While hearing this sentiment was undoubtedly hard to hear, I am forever thankful for this moment because it ultimately propelled me into studying psychology and becoming a therapist.
I graduated from the University of Georgia in December 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. I then worked as a registered behavioral technician for individuals with Autism for about eight months before moving to attend graduate school at Augusta University. While at Augusta University, I studied Counselor Education, majoring in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. In this fantastic program, I became fascinated with development, trauma, how trauma in early development can impact individuals, and finally, attachment. As my interest grew more substantial and profound, I coincidentally and thankfully joined another private practice during my internship that specialized in just that… attachment!! This experience was monumental in shaping my therapeutic stance on development and attachment.
I believe both nature and nurture have foundational roles in shaping who someone is. I value the impact of trauma and how an individual's body can respond to trauma in more ways than meets the eye. I inherently value the body’s ability to heal and cope with trauma in miraculous ways, but I also recognize how trauma can become fixated and stuck in an individual’s psyche. For these reasons and my deep beliefs, I strive to work with trauma, providing eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and practicing from a developmental perspective within an attachment framework.
With my personal and professional experience, I am enthralled by this next chapter. I am so excited to join this incredible team of therapists and am enthusiastically looking forward to what this journey will bring.
