- Trauma-focused care
- Attachment support
- Collaborative style
About Sommer
Dr. Sommer Garrett brings nine years of counseling experience to her work and holds the LPC credential. She describes counseling as a place where people can bring their full story - the proud parts and the parts that hurt. Her focus often lands on toxic guilt and shame and how those feelings make people believe something is wrong with who they are rather than what happened to them.
She has provided trauma-focused counseling and education outside the United States, including work in Kenya, Uganda, and Ukraine. Those experiences shaped her belief that people across cultures share a need to be known, accepted, and connected.
In sessions she aims for a warm and collaborative tone. She uses talking along with practical tools such as guided imagery, creative expression, and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral techniques when they seem helpful. She often frames new or unusual approaches with the line, "It's weird until it works," to normalize trying different ways to feel better.
Dr. Garrett helps people reduce anxiety and stress, strengthen self-worth and attachments, and work through experiences that are hard to put into words. She pays attention to how past experiences shaped current habits and relationships, and helps people identify steps that loosen the hold of guilt, shame, and fear.
Her practice includes attention to adoption and foster care concerns among other focuses. She invites people to bring their stories and to explore practical changes that can improve daily life and relationships.
How these approaches translate to online work
Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on relationships and patterns of connection. It looks at how early bonds shape current relationships and helps people try new ways of relating that feel safer and more satisfying. Client-Centered Therapy centers the person's goals and experience, using empathic listening and reflection so clients feel heard and can guide the pace of change. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical skills to notice unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and replace them with choices that reduce anxiety and improve mood.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to figure out which methods fit their goals and preferences. That means trying strategies, checking what helps, and adjusting plans together rather than sticking to one fixed method.
The biography does not specify session formats, so please confirm available options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce the travel time that can block regular appointments. Many people find that learning CBT skills, practicing attachment-focused conversations, and using client-centered reflection translate well to remote conversations and exercises that can be done between sessions.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
9+ years
Credentials
South Carolina
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of concerns can be addressed here?
Areas commonly addressed include stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting strain, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and related issues such as abandonment and attachment difficulties.
How would you describe the therapeutic approach and style?
Sessions are warm and collaborative, combining conversation with practical techniques like mindfulness, narrative work, and cognitive behavioral strategies to reduce anxiety and improve self-worth.
What is the therapist's background and experience?
The therapist has nine years of counseling experience and has provided trauma-focused counseling and education internationally in Kenya, Uganda, and Ukraine.
What credentials and region are associated with this therapist?
The clinician holds the LPC credential and practices in South Carolina.
Are sessions available in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English and international clients are accepted.
What session formats are offered?
The original biography does not list session formats. Please confirm current session options before booking so you know which formats are available.
How does payment and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with this therapist?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, completing a short matching questionnaire, and scheduling according to the therapist's availability.