Leslie K. Maitri Canniff, M.Ed., LCMHC, LCAS, C.H.T.

Leslie is skilled in creating a safe space for her clients to see themselves and be accompanied on their unique healing journey.  She is a holistic psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience working with adults in both clinical hospital settings and private psychotherapy practice. Her specialty is Somatic Psychotherapy, and she is interested in helping her clients to heal traumatic memory including attachment/childhood trauma.   Leslie is trained and experienced in a variety of techniques including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hakomi Therapy, and Pastoral Psychotherapy, her primary focus is on offering the following to her clients which she feels is necessary for healing what hurts:   

• Empathic listening and comforting.
• Teaching skills such as deep breathing, mindfulness & self-compassion, thinking exercises, including homework assignments to support development of self-regulation skills between sessions.
• Non-judgmental curiosity while analyzing present issues.
• Analyzing the influence of the past on the present so that it can be healed.
• Helping clients change maladaptive behaviors and thinking patterns.

As a practitioner, she trusts that as she assists her clients into their present-moment somatic experience, then the client’s own awareness will facilitate whatever change or next step needs to occur.  Leslie maintains her own Mindfulness and Self-compassion practice as well as an ongoing commitment to her personal growth and healing journey. To learn more about Leslie's approach to therapy, please click here (SunyataIntegrativeHealth.com). She loves spending time in nature and finding new places to explore in the mountains with her best friends; her dog Elly and her husband. 

Experience:

• Master of Education in Counseling, Winthrop University - Rock Hill, SC
• Bachelors of Science degree in Biology, Salem College – Winston-Salem, NC
• Extensive clinical experience in a hospital setting and private practice treating adults with a wide variety of clinical mental health and behavioral issues.
• Training and Supervision through the Carolina Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training – Charlotte, NC.  This program was an approved training program of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, AAPC.
• Certified Hakomi Therapist, C.H.T.  Training received in Asheville, NC
• Advanced Training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy received in Washington, DC and Asheville, NC.  Assistant to Level I Sensorimotor Psychotherapy training.
• Certified Spiritual Director, training received in Charlotte, NC through the Charlotte Spirituality Center
• Practicum and Internship done at Charlotte Rescue Mission/Rebound & Dove’s Nest – a 90-day residential treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction.

Areas of Expertise

• Trauma and PTSD
• Attachment and Childhood Trauma
• calming a stressed nervous system
• coping skills for stressful times
• Addiction
• Alcohol Use
• Anger Management
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Coping Skills
• Divorce
• Dual Diagnosis
• Grief
• Life Transitions
• Narcissistic Personality
• Relationship Issues
• Self Esteem
• Sleep or Insomnia
• Spirituality
• Substance Use

For more information about how Leslie works in therapy, and to read some of her Blog Posts, Click Here: https://www.sunyataintegrativehealth.com