About Katie Greenleaf, M.A., LPCC
WHAT I'VE DONE
I started my work helping families and kids, working with the most vulnerable populations in inner city Baltimore and Washington DC. The DC metro area is where I’ve spent the majority of my adult years after graduating with my undergraduate degree from Penn State University in 2003 (we are..) and moving on to complete my first graduate degree at Georgetown University in 2007.I spent time working in the Georgetown University Medical Center’s Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, which, at the time, housed a state of the art 3T MRI machine. Researchers from around the country conducted research in neuroscience and behavior, and I had the distinct pleasure of being in the center of it and getting my first glimpse at the brain and how it works. I was hooked.
I went on to work for Sheppard Pratt, the nation’s largest private, nonprofit provider of mental health, substance use, special education, developmental disability, and social services. I provided home and community-based services to vulnerable families at risk for homelessness, childrens’ services intervention, and out of home placement. This is where my passion for helping families with kids who display challenging behaviors was ignited.
I completed my second Masters degree in Professional Counseling, and obtained the state’s highest level of licensure in Professional Clinical Counseling. I served as the mental health advisor to a local juvenile detention center, where I advised administration and staff on best-practices in mental health intervention for juveniles.
In 2014, I moved to and fell in love with Northeast/Northern Ohio, which I imagine to be my forever-home and where I’ve settled into a life and career I love. I have two awesome kids of my own--now 12 and 14.
WHY I DO WHAT I DO
I have a deep and personal understanding of what a lot of my clients are dealing with. From the moment I brought my son, James, home from the hospital at 4 days old, I knew he was going to whip me into shape as a parent. I wasn’t surprised when he was diagnosed with severe ADHD at the age of 4. Because he was trying to manage many lagging skills, which presented through his behavior. He presented me with challenging behavior I had really only seen in my work with families professionally. As I tried to manage the situation at home, I was showing up to my work in therapy with families. I now understood that the ‘traditional’ parenting advice about behavior management we’ve given parents over the last century simply didn’t work. I knew I had to figure out a different way to help families, especially my own.
In 2014, I found Dr. Ross Greene and his Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) approach to not only helping kids with challenging behavior, but really in simply raising kids and having a peaceful and happy home with all kids. I completed advanced training with Dr. Ross Greene, which changed my life both professionally and personally. My son is now thriving and continues to amaze me with his kindness, empathy, honesty, and strength in academics. Our shift in dynamic has allowed me to develop a relationship with my kids that I’m proud of and grateful for. Don’t get me wrong, we have the same challenges that most families do, but we have a way to deal with them that doesn’t impact our relationships. I'm dedicated to providing and advocating for a more compassionate and effective way to parent and educate, especially for families facing challenging behaviors.
I went into private practice in 2017 and quickly found a missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to helping both kids and adults. While the collaborative and proactive approach to solving problems is a critical shift, I found that developing the skills required to do so was a task in itself. This is where I was able to call upon my fascination of the human brain and dove into extensive training in cutting edge models for executive function intervention. I’ve worked to combine a behavioral model with executive skill building to develop a comprehensive approach for children, adolescents, teens and adults, providing individualized coaching to improve functioning at home, school, work, and in the community. The Anchored Unbound Center for Executive Function is a manifestation of my work and is an effective solution to problems families have been trying to fix for quite some time. I love working with educators to teach these strategies, and I have tons of fun speaking to groups.
Ultimately, I've poured my experience into building my own practice. Anchored Unbound, which is located right on the boat basin in downtown Huron, is the product of a lifetime and career devoted to creating the most effective way to help people.
I can’t wait to start your journey with you.
