Teresa Woodruff
Teresa is the founder and owner of Art It Out Therapy Centers. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC), and Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS). Teresa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from the University of Georgia and her Master’s in Counseling & Art Therapy from the University of Louisville. With extensive experience in working with children and families, she launched Art It Out in 2009 to provide a space where individuals of all ages could use creativity to enhance their social and emotional well-being.
Teresa is deeply passionate about the transformative power of art as a means of self-expression, a way to communicate difficult or complex emotions, a method for gaining insight into hidden thoughts and feelings, and a tool that provides a concrete reminder of coping strategies. She mentors other therapists in integrating art-based techniques with psychotherapy to help clients improve self-esteem, manage anger, reduce anxiety, navigate life transitions, process grief, and strengthen communication skills. Teresa has worked extensively with clients facing challenges such as low self-esteem, anxiety, adjustment to parental divorce, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, developmental disorders, and chronic or acute medical conditions.
Active in the Atlanta therapy community, Teresa has also served on the board of Kate’s Club, a non-profit organization supporting grieving children and families. While Teresa is currently not accepting new clients, she oversees and trains other clinicians at Art It Out.
In Jung Hwang
In Jung Hwang, LPC, NCC, RPT, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Registered Play Therapist who works with children as young as three through early adulthood. She provides therapy in both Korean and English to support the cultural and linguistic needs of diverse families.
In Jung brings extensive experience from behavioral mental health agencies, multiple elementary schools where she served as a school-based mental health therapist, a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital, and private practice. She has completed in-depth training and supervision in Play Therapy to meet the unique developmental needs of children and teens.
Her passion for supporting children and adolescents has grown throughout her education and career. In Jung is driven by the belief that children often communicate their experiences through play rather than words, and she is dedicated to meeting them where they are. Through play therapy, she helps children safely explore emotions, build coping skills, and work through internal challenges in a developmentally appropriate way.
In Jung strives to provide a warm, supportive space where children can develop strengths, resilience, and confidence. She uses a client-centered approach and integrates a variety of therapeutic modalities—including Play Therapy, art interventions, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills—to tailor treatment to each child’s needs.
She also highly values collaboration with caregivers and encourages them to be active participants in their child’s therapeutic journey, as a strong caregiver-clinician partnership often leads to the most meaningful and lasting growth.
Jenn Shell
Jennifer brings a collaborative approach to therapy in a non-judgmental environment where clients are empowered to be their whole selves and move toward healing and growth. She values the role of art in helping therapy skills generalize into a person’s life outside of the therapy session.
She uses Person Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to process and help manage depression, self-esteem and anxiety. She aims to create a safe place for clients to share their stories with her and encourages them to express themselves authentically, while challenging them to practice difficult behavior changes.
Jenn has experience working with children, teens and adults with: anxiety, anger, grief, trauma, low self-esteem, and who are questioning their own identity. Jennifer specializes in ages from preteen to adult, and is a Certified Child and Adolescent Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP-CA). Jennifer received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
She also earned her master’s degree in Clinical and Mental Health Counseling from Wake Forest University. In her free time she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.
Megan Rigas
Megan is an Associate Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor with a master’s degree from Mercer University and more than a decade of experience supporting children and families prior to entering clinical practice. This background gives her a rich understanding of the unique challenges individuals and families face, allowing her to meet clients with insight, flexibility, and compassion.
Over the course of her clinical work, Megan has developed a strong specialty in supporting individuals with emotional regulation, ADHD, and anxiety. She is passionate about helping clients navigate overwhelming moments, identify their strengths, and build practical tools they can carry into everyday life.
Central to Megan’s approach is her belief that healing begins within a safe, trusting therapeutic relationship. She creates a warm, accepting, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel seen and supported as they explore their experiences. Megan integrates evidence-based modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Person-Centered Therapy (PCT), and complementary expressive and integrative techniques, to tailor treatment to each client’s unique needs.
Dedicated to fostering growth, creativity, and resilience, Megan empowers individuals to better understand themselves, strengthen emotional coping skills, and rediscover the confidence to move forward.
Melis Demir
Melis began her counseling journey at Mercer University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She then pursued a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Mercer University to further her expertise.
During her undergraduate years, Melis volunteered at local elementary schools in Macon, Georgia, and worked as a counselor at Florida International University’s Summer Treatment Program, where she supported pre-kindergarten children facing emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. She also gained valuable experience as a mental health behavioral technician at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, working closely with children and families. These diverse experiences deepened her passion for the therapeutic field and strengthened her commitment to helping children and families navigate emotional and behavioral growth.
Melis is dedicated to providing a safe, supportive, and creative environment where clients can address emotional and behavioral challenges and foster positive change. She uses a strengths-based approach and integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy to help clients develop effective coping strategies and build resilience. Her therapeutic focus includes working with children and families dealing with ADHD, behavioral issues, life transitions, anxiety, and emotional regulation difficulties. Melis is passionate about promoting healing and growth by creating a unique, empowering space where clients can explore their emotions, enhance self-awareness, and develop the tools needed for lasting change.
Rachel LaGrone
Rachel is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who provides compassionate, creative, and evidence-based therapy for children, adolescents, young adults, adults, and families. At Art It Out Therapy Center, she integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and expressive arts techniques to help clients manage anxiety, strengthen emotional regulation, build healthy coping skills, and navigate life’s challenges.
Rachel is especially passionate about working with adolescents and their families. She has extensive experience supporting children and teens struggling with emotional dysregulation, self-harm, self-sabotaging behaviors, suicidal thoughts, school resistance, and behavioral concerns. Her approach is grounded in empathy, collaboration, and evidence-based practices, creating a safe and supportive environment where clients can develop insight, resilience, and meaningful growth.
Prior to joining Art It Out Therapy Center, Rachel worked as an intensive in-home therapist with Hillside, Inc. and as a school social worker in Fulton County Schools, where she facilitated DBT groups and supported students facing emotional and behavioral challenges. Drawing from her experience in school systems, foster care, community mental health, and private practice, she brings a well-rounded, systems-informed perspective to her work.
Rachel also partners closely with parents of children of all ages, providing practical tools to strengthen communication, increase emotional awareness, and foster more connected family relationships. She is dedicated to helping clients create lasting change through emotional insight, creative expression, and values-based living, and offers both individual and group therapy services.
Sara Callahan
Sara is a Licensed Professional Counselor (Georgia and Connecticut), a National Board Certified Counselor and a Certified School Counselor (Connecticut/K-12) who specializes in individual & group psychotherapy as well as parent coaching. Sara earned her undergraduate degree at Bucknell University and received her Master’s degree in Counseling at Fairfield University. Sara’s enthusiasm for working with children and adults is demonstrated through a long history of success engaging with a diverse range of clients.
Sara’s therapeutic perspective is relationally-based, creative and multi-modal; integrating various approaches based on each individual client; such as cognitive behavioral theory, social cognition methodology, art/play therapy, solution focused therapy, as well as mindfulness techniques.
Sara is passionate about providing empathic care and support to children, adolescents and adults with psychosocial difficulties, anxiety, depression and attentional issues; in addition to all the normative, developmental challenges and changes experienced throughout one’s lifetime.
Sara places great emphasis on building trust, comfort, and rapport in the therapeutic relationship. Her warm and authentic style creates a safe space where clients feel supported in taking risks, addressing obstacles, changing patterns, and achieving their personal goals.
Prior to joining Art it Out, Sara was employed at Focus Forward Counseling & Consulting where she provided individual counseling across the lifespan. Previous to her relocation to Georgia she was employed at The Southfield Center for Development in Connecticut, where she served as the Clinical Director of Group Therapy. During her tenure there she managed and supervised clinical staff in addition to providing direct client services, including individual and group psychotherapy, parent coaching and community collaboration and outreach.
Graduate Interns
Kaytie Eastin, Intern Program Director
Kaytie’s goal is to have the client succeed and thrive in all areas of their lives. Kaytie utilizes a strengths-based approach, as well as motivational interviewing and mindfulness techniques, to support her clients in learning and utilizing coping skills to help them navigate through challenging transitions and events in their life. She also believes in utilizing creative approaches to interventions with clients to provide individualistic care and practice.
Prior to coming to Art It Out, Kaytie worked in providing therapeutic care coordination to youth who have experienced commercial child sex exploitation as well as for youth in foster care with severe mental health and behavioral challenges. Kaytie additionally has extensive experience in providing educational wraparound support and advocacy for youth, as well as supporting families and youth with navigating school systems to ensure youth are appropriately supported in their school settings based on their individualized needs. Kaytie is passionate about working with youth and families and enjoys building a trusting relationship with youth to create a safe space for them to express themselves and progress towards their self-identified goals.
Bailey Rosser
Bailey is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Mercer University’s Atlanta campus. Prior to her time at Mercer, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Georgia State University. Bailey is passionate about helping others understand themselves and develop healthier ways to express their emotions through talk therapy and creative expression.
She strives to create a warm, supportive, and judgment-free environment for people of all ages and believes meaningful growth happens when people feel heard and supported. She integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness-based practices. In sessions, she focuses on building healthy coping strategies and improving communication and socialization skills. Her combined approaches cultivate confidence so individuals can better express themselves and manage life’s stressors. She provides support for individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, or ADHD by helping them better understand their experiences and develop practical tools for everyday life.
Outside of counseling, Bailey enjoys practicing mindfulness to enhance her mind-body connection. She loves being one with nature, using grounding and walks in the parks to foster a happy state of mind. She enjoys crafting and helping friends with their cosplays for conventions. Creativity and counseling are two of Bailey’s passions. At Art It Out, she is excited to combine both these passions to provide a healthy counseling experience
Grace Mistretta
Grace Mistretta is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Mercer University. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with a minor in Criminal Justice, from Georgia College and State University. Grace has experience working as a substitute teacher in elementary school settings, where she developed a strong commitment to fostering supportive, child-centered environments that meet students’ emotional and developmental needs.
Grace is knowledgeable in childhood development and integrates this understanding into her work with clients through developmentally appropriate and evidence-based techniques. Her passion lies in helping children and adolescents process emotions, build confidence, and develop resilience. She values incorporating creative outlets to support self-expression and engagement in the therapeutic process.
Her clinical interests include anxiety, emotional regulation, and social challenges. Grace utilizes techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Motivational Interviewing. She is excited to integrate her passion for working with children and teens with expressive and art-based therapies at Art it Out!
Jaimie Tarleton
Jaimie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Georgia Gwinnett College; she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Georgia. Jaimie has extensive experience working with children as she was a substitute teacher for 3 years and worked various babysitting jobs growing up. Jaimie has additional experience working with athletics, as this past year was spent providing consultation services to the University of North Georgia athletes.
Jaimie desires to provide a safe and encouraging environment for children to grow into their true selves. She wants to create a space where learning can happen naturally, and she desires to foster connections amongst the youth. She is also looking forward to building the children’s confidence through a strengths focused lens that encourages and supports the children through their experiences.
Jaimie has many therapeutic interests including, ADHD, OCD, self-esteem issues, relational issues, emotional regulation, and many more. She operates from a relational-cultural approach, and desires to increase and heal social connections for children. She utilizes various therapeutic techniques; those including, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, art integration, somatic interventions, and solution focused interventions.
Kaci Mobley
Kaci Mobley is completing her graduate studies in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Mercer University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from the University of West Georgia. During her undergraduate studies, Kaci worked as a Registered Behavior Technician and volunteered with the Rome Civic Ballet, where she instructed different classes that explored connection through movement and creative expression.
With her blended background in psychology and the arts, Kaci believes that healing often happens through creativity, curiosity, and self-discovery. With a deep appreciation for the ways people express themselves beyond words, she strives to help clients uncover meaning, build resilience, and reconnect with their sense of self. Kaci believes that growth begins with a genuine connection. She approaches each therapeutic relationship with compassion, creativity, and respect for every client’s unique journey. Her goal is to help clients feel heard, valued, and capable of creating meaningful change, both within themselves and in their relationships with others.
Kaci is dedicated to working with children, adolescents, and young adults, and she brings warmth, empathy, and openness to every session. She is passionate about creating a space where clients feel safe to show up as they are (messy, uncertain, or in transition) and still feel accepted and supported. Her clinical interests include supporting clients experiencing grief and loss, oppositional or defiant behaviors, and challenges related to emotional regulation. Kaci integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Narrative Therapy, drawing from both structure and story to help clients reframe unhelpful thoughts, understand their emotions, and find empowerment in their personal narratives.
Join Our Team
Check out our open positions as we are actively recruiting for this location!