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The professional staff of
Solutions has many years of specialized training and
experience in child, adolescent and adult
psychology. We specialize in the
assessment and treatment of behavioral,
emotional and learning disorders in
children, adolescents and adults. |
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,
Aspergers Syndrome and Anxious
and Depressed children and
adolescents. Over the course of
the past 22 years, Dr. Freilich
has developed an array of
techniques and strategies for
working with children and
families who have previously been
identified as resistant to
standard forms of treatment.
Dr. Freilich received her
doctoral training at Georgia
State University where she
received extensive training in
the assessment and treatment of
many childhood disorders, Her
residency at Crestwood Children's
Hospital in Rochester, NY
provided her with hands-on
assessment and treatment of
children and families.
Currently, Dr. Freilich has
focused much of her attention to
the treatment of Learning
Differences, as well as to
differential diagnosis of
children with Bipolar,
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder, Anxiety disorders,
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and
Depression. |
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Ms. McClain graduated Cum Laude from
Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory and
obtained her Master of Arts in Clinical
Psychology from Radford University, in
Radford, Virginia. Her specialized area
of expertise is in the assessment and
diagnosis of children’s learning
difficulties.
She is a past Executive Board member and
Treasurer of the N.C. Branch of the
International Dyslexia Association, and |
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recipient of the 2008
Dr. Lucia Rooney Karnes
Award for Excellence
for service to this organization. Additionally,
she has been trained in the neurodevelopmental
assessment of children and conducts
comprehensive assessments of children focused on
the identification
of children’s strengths, which
are then used to overcome identified learning,
emotional, social and developmental weaknesses.
Ms. McClain also developed and conducts an
effective social skills training group, “FriendBuilders”,
which is appropriate for children from ages 4 to
12. Adjustment issues such as divorce, grief, as
well as ADHD, developmental disorders,
depression and anxiety are also areas of
expertise for Ms. McClain. She has received
advanced training and supervision in conducting
Forensic Evaluations of individuals and
families, and also treats children and families
during and after high-conflict divorces. She is
a member of the Catawba Valley Association of
Counselors & Therapists, The North Carolina
Psychological Association and the American
Psychological Association.
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Mrs. Dianne Sanford is a Licensed
Professional Counselor who has practiced
counseling in Hickory, NC, since 1990.
Prior to that, Mrs. Sanford provided
counseling services for many years in
various environments, including foster
homes, group homes, and day treatment
programs for children, adolescents, and
geriatric populations. She holds an
undergraduate degree from Kent State |
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University in Ohio, and a Masters Degree
in Community Mental Health Counseling
from Northeastern University in
Massachusetts. Mrs. Sanford is married
to a local minister and has three young
adult children. Over her many years in
Hickory, Mrs. Sanford is and has been an
active volunteer in her church, and more
recently, has begun volunteering at a
local school.
Clinically, she enjoys
counseling adults, adolescents, and
children, through therapies including
individual, family, and couples, and
play-therapy with children. Her areas of
expertise include: Bereavement,
parenting, and co-parenting matters,
children of divorce and/or remarriage,
injured workers, victims and survivors
of abuse, and spirituality issues. In
addition, Mrs. Sanford works with
clients dealing with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
Depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar
Disorders. She has many years of
experience working on a multi
disciplinary treatment team. She is, and
has been, an active member of Catawba
Valley Area Counselors and Therapists (CVACT)
since 1990.
Currently, she is on the CVACT Board of
Directors as an At Large Board Member
and Chair of the Health and Wellness
Fair.
In addition, Mrs. Sanford has been
certified by the National Board for
Certified Counselors since 1991. |
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Mr. Ferguson is a Licensed
Psychological Associate. A
local resident, he graduated
salutatorian from West Caldwell
High School in Lenoir, North
Carolina in 2000 and attended
Wake Forest University in
Winston Salem, North Carolina
where he obtained a Bachelor of
Science degree in Psychology,
and then a Master of Arts in
Clinical Psychology from
Appalachian State
University in Boone, North
Carolina. |
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Mr. Ferguson’s experience includes working
with adolescents with behavioral and legal
issues as well as receiving supervised
training in a diagnostic psychology clinic
working with college students and children
experiencing learning difficulties,
attentional impairment, and other
emotional/behavioral difficulties; a college
counseling center specializing in the
treatment of adjustment difficulties; and a
community mental health agency specializing
in the psychological assessment and
treatment of children, adolescents, and
families. In addition, Mr. Ferguson has
obtained post-graduate specialized training
in forensic applications of psychology as
well as play therapy and diagnosis and
treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
Mr. Ferguson’s professional interests
include comprehensive psychological
assessment and differential diagnosis of
various disorders, including autism spectrum
disorders, Dyslexia,
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,
and other emotional and behavioral
disorders, as well as psychological
treatment relevant to these disorders. Mr.
Ferguson’s clinical expertise includes
treatment of anxiety, depression, and ADHD
primarily in children and adolescents. He
is a member of Catawba Valley Area
Counselors and Therapists (CVACT) and the
North Carolina Psychological Association. |
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Dr. Phil Icard is a licensed
psychologist specializing in pediatric
neuropsychology and developmental
disabilities. As a child and adolescent
neuropsychologist, Dr. Icard provides
comprehensive assessment, consultation,
and treatment for childhood conditions
with neurological involvement. Dr.
Icard has experience working with both
congenital and acquired disorders,
including Autism Spectrum |
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Disorders, Attention-Deficit/
Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual
Disability, Learning Disorders,
Psychiatric Illness, chronic kidney
disease, and Traumatic Brain Injury. He
is particularly interested in the areas
of recovery after Traumatic Brain
Injury, coping with chronic illness, and
complex learning disorders.
Dr. Icard received his Bachelors,
Masters, and Doctoral degrees from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. While at UNC, he also completed a
postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric
neuropsychology and developmental
disabilities at the Clinical Center for
the Study of Development and Learning.
As both a clinician and researcher, Dr.
Icard has written peer-reviewed journal
articles and a book chapter focusing on
pediatric chronic illness. He has
participated in research examining the
neurological impact of pediatric chronic
kidney disease and substance-use on
brain development. He is a member of
the American Psychological Association,
the North Carolina Psychological
Association, and the National Academy of
Neuropsychology. A lifelong North
Carolinian, Dr. Icard graduated from
Alexander Central High School in
Taylorsville, North Carolina. |
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Debra Engelmann is a Licensed Clinical
Social Worker (LCSW) who has practiced
in Hickory, NC since 1995. She has a
Bachelors Degree from the State
University of New York – Oneonta and a
Masters degree in social work from
Adelphi University in Garden City, NY.
Mrs.
Engelmann has provided group, individual
and family therapy to a very
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diverse group of people of all ages.
She has worked in the acute care
hospital setting, geriatric partial
hospitalization, outpatient offices, HIV
clinics and Catawba Valley Medical
Centers gastric bypass support group. In
these settings Mrs. Engelmann has worked
with patients with a wide range of
diagnoses and has provided counseling to
people dealing with simple and
complicated depression and anxiety,
phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder,
social anxiety, complicated grief and
loss, post traumatic stress disorder,
life transition issues,
work/relationship issues, weight
difficulties and parenting issues. She
has also worked very successfully with
clients with anger difficulties, legal
issues and difficulties parenting
teenage children.
Besides practicing Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy (CBT), Debra has also received
specialized training in Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR),
which can be helpful in a broad range of
diagnoses. She also has training in
mediation and has worked with clients in
the court system. She is both a member
of the National Association of Social
Workers (NASW) and a local member of
Catawba Valley Counselors and
Therapists. In addition she has
served on the ethics committee at
Catawba Valley Medical Center since
1996.
One of Mrs. Engelmann’s strengths is to
connect with people and provide a safe
environment to express feelings and
improve the quality of both personal and
professional areas of her clients’
lives. Debra lives in Hickory with her
husband Dr. Richard Engelmann and their
two children David and Rachel. |
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Ms. Linda Watts is a Master’s
level psychologist at
Solutions. Although she
recently relocated to Western
North Carolina, she is no
stranger to the area, having
graduated from Freedom High
School in 1999. From there she
attended Warner University in
Lake Wales, Florida where she
graduated Summa Cum Laude in
three years, and discovered her
passion for people through
psychology. She continued her
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studies in Louisville, Kentucky where she
obtained her Master of Arts in Clinical
Psychology from Spalding University.
Ms. Watts’ professional experiences have
given her the opportunity to work with all
populations including children, adolescents,
and adults. She especially enjoys working
with college-age individuals, helping them
bridge the gap between the dependency of
childhood/adolescence to the productiveness
of independent adulthood. She has held a
number of positions that have enabled her to
work with this population including
supervised training as a psychotherapist at
Hanover College in Indiana and Academic
Counseling at Coastal Carolina Community
College (CCCC). As a therapist she has also
had the opportunity to work with all age
groups in a community mental health setting
where her primary focus was children,
adolescents, and their families. Throughout
her professional career, she has also had
extensive experience in psychological
assessment which has included the evaluation
of inmates, children and adolescents
involved with the Department of Social
Services, and more recently, in
collaboration with a private practice
psychiatrist assessing all age groups for a
myriad of reasons including developmental
delays, ADHD, learning disabilities,
anxiety, mood disturbances, custody
evaluations, active-duty fitness, cognitive
decline, and dementia. Additionally, Ms.
Watts has also had the privilege to teach
Developmental Psychology as an adjunct
professor which has given her further
opportunities to work with adults, a form of
psychoeducation that she has seen positively
impact the lives of all age groups.
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Angela Hamilton, MA, CCC, has
recently joined the staff of
Solutions of Hickory, PA. She is
a Speech Language Pathologist
who specializes in the diagnosis
and treatment of various
communication disorders for
pediatric and adolescent clients
and their families. She has
special interests in early
intervention, autism spectrum
disorders, and language-based
learning disorders for
school-aged children. |
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She has recently completed intensive
training to provide research-based reading
tutoring for children and adolescents with
dyslexia and offers multi-sensory language
instruction for dyslexia and dysgraphia. She
has also received additional certification
from the PROMPT Institute to work
intensively with children with moderate to
severe oromotor speech disorders.
She graduated from the University of Tennessee
at Knoxville in 1982, and has worked in
private practice or hospital settings in the
states of California, Georgia, and North
Carolina. Since 2003, she provided all
speech, language, and voice services at
Graystone Ear, Nose and Throat until the
recent closing of that practice. Mrs.
Hamilton is a certified member of the N.C.
and the American Speech, Language, and
Hearing Associations. Mrs. Hamilton resides
in Hickory with her husband, Dr. David
Hamilton. |
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David Zealy is a Licensed Professional
Counselor Associate and holds a Masters
of Arts in Counseling and a Bachelor of
Arts in Psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne
University.
David
enjoys working with diverse populations
and has experience with teens, young
adults, and
couples.
Specialty areas include: addictions,
depression, personality disorders, |
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LGBT,
grief, HIV/AIDS and issues regarding
sexuality and gender. David’s clients
describe him as “kind, gentle and
caring”. His therapeutic style is
genuine, direct, and solution focused.
A native of Greensboro, North Carolina,
David has lived in Hickory over 11
years. He is a self-defined artist at
heart and is passionate about expressive
arts and the healing power of
creativity. Community activities
include: Board of Directors of OUTright
youth, Green Room Community Theatre, and
Not Your Mama’s Bingo.
David is a member of the American
Counseling Association, the Catawba
Valley Association of Counselors and
Therapists, a certified HIV/AIDS
counselor, and an American Red Cross HIV
Starter Facts Trainer. |
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is owned & operated by |
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Michelle A. McClain, MS,
LPA & Elyse F. Freilich, Ph.D., LP
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