Beth Johnson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed School Social Worker and an Eagala Certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapist. She received both her Master’s Degree in Social Work and her Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Advocacy is at the core of Beth’s heart and her work goals and determination. She has worked as a School Social Worker with the Wake County Public School System serving students k-12th grade since 2006. During her time with WCPSS, Beth has provided Social Emotional Learning and Crisis Intervention services to students within the Wake County Public School System. As a member of the WCPSS District Crisis Team since 2008, Beth has responded to hundreds of student and faculty deaths within the region. While serving as a Crisis Team member, she has provided immediate mental health support to the school and community that experienced the loss of a member of their school. Beth also created a Back Buddies Program in the Garner, NC area schools within WCPSS working collaboratively with a local church in order to ensure that elementary school children who experienced food insecurity over the weekends would be provided food for every meal until returning to school on Monday. This Back Buddies Program began in 2007 and served only 2 elementary schools at that time. Through Beth’s advocacy, dedication and leadership, the program now serves children in all 10 WCPSS elementary schools in Garner, North Carolina.
Beth has also served the community working as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the private practice setting since 2001. Beth has been working in the mental health field for over 21 years and has found her passion in assisting those who are experiencing crisis in their lives. Knowing that each person holds their own solutions lying within themselves is a key component to Beth’s core beliefs and therapeutic intervention style. She enjoys working with individuals, families, and couples, focusing primarily on ages teens through adults.
Beth’s areas of expertise include depression, oppositional behavior, post-traumatic stress, behavior modification, positive parenting, self-esteem, anger management, issues involving cognitive distortions, anxiety, couples counseling, emergency crisis, and grief and loss. Beth also has a passion for working with individuals who have experienced domestic violence and/or sexual assault and those within the LGBTQ population. Additionally, she deeply enjoys working with those currently serving in the military, veterans and their spouses/children, addressing struggles involving deployment, post combat trauma and PTSD, and moral injury. Beth currently works with the Lone Survivor Foundation serving veterans and their family members utilizing Accelerated Resolution Therapy. She utilizes numerous treatment modalities within her practice including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Animal Assisted Therapy and Equine Assisted Psycho-therapy & Accelerated Resolution Therapy. Her treatment approach is eclectic ensuring that each client is provided with the best modality to fit their individual needs.
Beth believes that all human beings are constantly changing and evolving, and her role is to provide a safe place to allow the person to discover their own journey to healing through empathy, gentle guidance and support. Each individual has the power within themselves to locate and utilize their strengths for change and growth and Beth’s job is to assist the client in realizing those skills. Humor and play are a huge part of Beth’s life and she brings this in to her practice. Put simply, Beth truly enjoys people!
In her free time, Beth is usually trying to keep up with her teenage son and their wonderful dogs, Sully and Frankie. She also enjoys travel, reading a great book on the beach, cooking and all things Tarheels!