" I wholeheartedly believe that we become our best selves through relationships, a loved one beside us."
Dr. Gina Austin, Ph.D., HSP
Dr. Austin, a licensed clinical psychologist, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1999. She interned at the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Vanderbilt University Psychological and Counseling Center. She is a native of Knoxville, TN where her family treasures Smokey, the University of Tennessee mascot, as a relative since 1951. She specializes in treating couples, veterans, and traumatic stress. She has been certified as a Gottman Method couples therapist since 2012 and has been certified as an Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) therapist since 2016. She has trained and supervised Masters and Doctoral level trainees in Gottman and EFCT as the Couples Coordinator at the UTK Counseling Center since 2016.
Dr. Austin has had extensive training and clinical experience in treating depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress, including certifications in Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy. She provides individual psychotherapy to adults and older adolescents. Her couples practice includes addressing issues of commitment, infidelity, improved communication, conflict management, premarital therapy, traumatic stress within couples, and strengthening of bond. She can also help a couple work through ambivalence staying in the relationship.
Dr. Austin's clinical experience with veterans include being the OEF/OIF psychologist for treating soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. She has served as the UTK Veterans Success Center liaison/psychologist for UTK student veterans and their spouses/partners since 2015.
Certifications
Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Certified Therapist
Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist (EFCT)
Certified Emotionally Focused Individual Therapist (EFIT)
Prolonged Exposure Therapist
Cognitive Processing Therapist
Motivational Interviewing Therapist
Acceptance and Commitment Therapist
EMDR Level 1 Therapist
Post Doctoral Training
1999-2000 Vanderbilt University Psychological and Counseling Center
Education
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.A., Clinical Psychology - St. Mary's University, San Antonio