Trauma therapists serving Nashville, TN

Lizzie Harrigan, LCSW, PMH-C, RYT

Owner and Clinical Director

Lizzie is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in the treatment of trauma, addictive disorders, intimacy disorders, relationship issues, and borderline personality disorder. She has over fifteen years of field experience in these specialties and utilizes a variety of treatment models including Imago Relationship Therapy, fully-adherent Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Therapies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Informed Yoga, and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy. She is a trained drug, alcohol and behavioral interventionist and a clinical supervisor for social workers seeking their licensure in the state of Tennessee.

In addition to her clinical work with individuals, couples, and families she has focused on improving systems of care through program design and administration both in private facilities and in local government. She provides workshops and training on a variety of topics ranging from clinical issues to corporate wellness and leadership. For seven years, Lizzie instructed and authored undergraduate students in Social Work at Belmont University. Lizzie has served as a volunteer legislative advocate for Moms Demand Action, on the executive board for the National Association of Social Workers-Tennessee Chapter (NASW-TN), and on the executive board for The Rooted Bridge a non-profit focused on maternal mental health. Lizzie recently co-founded the Mental Health Active Response Team, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes networks of volunteer mental health professionals to meet the pressing needs of Tennesseans.

Addictive Disorders, Intimacy Disorders, Traumatic Stress, Relationships, Borderline Personality Disorder, Perinatal Mental Health, Anxiety

Maria Matty, LCSW

Clinical Therapist

Maria is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in the treatment of trauma, addiction and co-occurring disorders, LGBTQIA+, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues. She is trained in a variety of models including, fully adherent Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Therapies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), attachment- and somatic-based Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR II), and Motivational Interviewing. Maria utilizes an eclectic approach to therapy with the purpose of meeting each client’s individual and unique needs. As a social worker, Maria believes in dismantling oppressive systems and advocating for social justice and systemic change in our communities.

Maria is a person-centered therapist and strongly believes that the individual is both the expert on their own experience and their greatest resource for healing. She has a holistic approach in her work with clients, addressing and affirming the whole person and guiding them to reconnect with the inner wisdom and resiliency. She is both down to earth and energetic. She identifies as queer, cisgender, and uses she/her/hers pronouns. She is LGBTQIA+ affirming, sex positive, and supportive of all humans who desire growth and change. As self-care, Maria enjoys reading novels, hiking, swimming, and spending time with her rescued greyhound, Rudy. Maria works with clients aged 18 and up.

Trauma, Addiction and Co-occurring Disorders, LGBTQIA+, Anxiety, Depression, and Relationship Issues

Chelsea Nixon, LMSW

Therapist and Practice Manager

Chelsea is a licensed social worker with a passion for helping others experience transformation by learning to tap into and express their most authentic selves. Her clinical interests include challenges related to pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences, trauma and abuse, spiritual wounding, grief, and family or relationship conflicts.

Chelsea views her role as a therapist as that of a fellow traveller bearing witness to your story of pain and resilience while offering support, curiosity, openness, and humor as tools for you to explore new ways of thinking and feeling. She believes that the key to sustaining change is focusing on here-and-now strategies for coping and accepting life’s difficulties while also going beyond the surface to explore the underlying belief systems and formative experiences that keep us rooted in unhealthy patterns of behavior. Chelsea utilizes an integrative approach to therapy informed by experiential techniques, Internal Family Systems, Compassion-Focused Therapy, and Cognitive-Behavioral theories and interventions with the goal of helping you realize the self-healing power that has always been inside of you.

She has also completed Birth Doula training through DONA International and is a practicing full-spectrum doula, which influences her therapeutic style. She has additional training in Trauma-Informed Care, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Transformational Systemic Therapy, and Perinatal Mental Health. Chelsea is also the Office Coordinator, providing support to our clients and therapists by answering phone calls and emails, providing superbills, and scheduling appointments.