Life’s currents can feel overwhelming, yet healing is always within reach. At Above the Tides, I offer compassionate, trauma-informed telehealth therapy to help you navigate anxiety, burnout, neurodivergence, grief, and life transitions. Sessions are secure, confidential, and available to adult clients in North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Maine.
Our Guiding Principles
ABOVE
A: Awareness Cultivating mindful presence in everyday life
B: Balance Restoring harmony among thoughts, emotions, and actions
O: Opportunity Transforming challenges into openings for growth
V: Validation Honoring your lived experience and feelings
E: Elevation Rising beyond limitations toward your highest potential
TIDES
T: Transformation Turning pain into powerful growth
I: Insight Gaining clarity about patterns and strengths
D: Direction Charting a purposeful course forward
E: Empowerment Building confidence and autonomy
S: Support Creating a safe, affirming therapeutic space
Rooted in these principles, every session is designed to help you rise above the waves and move toward steadier waters. When you’re ready to embark on or continue your healing journey, I’m here to partner with you each step of the way.
I have a special interest in ADHD, anxiety, addiction, bereavement, divorce, bariatric psychological evaluations for weight loss surgery, and neurodivergent affirming care. I specialize in ADHD and executive functioning challenges because I believe neurodivergence is not a disorder to be fixed but a natural variation of the human mind. As a neurodivergent clinician myself, I bring both professional expertise and lived experience to the work. I understand firsthand the challenges of navigating systems that were not built for our brains, as well as the creativity, insight, and resilience that come with thinking differently. I have 18 years experience working in the mental health and addiction field in an array of healthcare settings.
I take a neurodivergent affirming, trauma informed, LGBTQIA+, Veteran informed, culturally responsive, and intersectional approach to therapy, grounded in both evidence based strategies and nervous system regulation. While traditional treatment models can offer helpful tools, many were not designed with neurodivergent people in mind and can unintentionally reinforce shame, burnout, or unrealistic expectations. That’s why I take an integrative approach, blending structured methods with flexibility, compassion, and creativity.
Drawing from Polyvagal Theory, the Living in Balance model, and holistic mind body practices, I help clients understand how their brain and body respond to stress, overwhelm, and demand. Together, we work to reduce shame, increase self awareness, and build sustainable systems that support safety, motivation, and focus.
I offer a validating, nonpathologizing space where clients can show up fully as themselves without masking and build lives that work with their brains, not against them. Whether you are navigating ADHD, trauma, grief, addiction recovery, burnout, divorce, or major life transitions, my goal is to support your healing, your autonomy, and your growth. You don’t need to be fixed. You need to be seen, understood, and supported in becoming more fully yourself.
I offer self-pay services including bariatric evaluations, career consulting, addiction support for professionals, and premarital couples guidance.
I also provide non traditional therapy, incorporating alternative approaches such as meditation, astrology, dream interpretation, and non Western philosophies. I have extensive experience in supporting and guiding individuals through healing from religious trauma and cult involvement, including those leaving high control groups. I honor traditional and cross cultural perspectives, mainstream and global approaches, modern and diverse cultural frameworks, conventional and holistic worldviews, and evidence based and culturally diverse practices. This allows me to create a safe, affirming space for exploration, healing, and recovery that respects the uniqueness of each client’s background and beliefs.
I provide affirming, culturally responsive care for LGBTQIA+ individuals, women and women’s health issues, veterans, first responders, students, healthcare professionals, individuals in high demand careers, those who are child free by choice or circumstance, and anyone moving through seasons of change, stress, discovery, or self reinvention. My practice centers the complexity of identity and lived experience, honoring the ways culture, systems, and intersectionality shape your mental health and healing journey.
Warmly,
Meagan Barksdale, MAEd, MSW, LCAS, CCS, LCSW
License name: Meagan Capers
Rise Above The Tides*
*
Rise Above The Tides* *
-
One on one video or phone sessions. Individual therapy and groups/classes. I offer specialized services including addiction and gambling recovery support, bariatric psychological assessments, nexus evaluations, and comprehensive ADHD assessments for adults.
Areas I Support
I work with adults across a wide range of mental health, neurodivergent, and recovery-related concerns. My approach is trauma-informed, inclusive, and grounded in over 18 years of clinical experience.
I support individuals navigating:
• ADHD, autism, anxiety, OCD, and other neurodivergent presentations.
• Executive functioning challenges, burnout, masking, and emotional regulation difficulties.
• Substance use and recovery, including alcohol use disorder, drug use, and relapse prevention.
• Behavioral addictions, including gambling and compulsive behaviors.
• Trauma, complex trauma, medical trauma, and nervous system dysregulation.
• Depression, grief, life transitions, divorce,and identity-related stress.
• Relationship challenges, boundary setting, and caregiver fatigue.Specialized experience includes:
• Over 18 years working in addiction treatment and recovery-oriented care.
• Extensive experience supporting veterans, active duty service members, and Department of Defense employees.
• Work with healthcare workers, first responders, and individuals in high-stress or high-responsibility roles.
• Neurodivergent-affirming care for adults who have been misdiagnosed, masked, or misunderstood.Values that guide my work:
• Care that is inclusive, affirming, and culturally responsive.
• Respect for lived experience, identity, and individual context.
• A belief that everyone deserves access to thoughtful, ethical mental health care. -
Helping other professionals and students.
-
Teaching and Education
In addition to my clinical work, I hold a second master’s degree in Adult Education and bring a strong academic and applied teaching background to learning environments. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, followed by a Master of Social Work, and later completed a Master of Adult Education with a focus on instruction, learning theory, and adult learners. This interdisciplinary foundation allows me to teach from a systems informed, clinically grounded, and socially conscious perspective that bridges criminal justice, social work, and sociology.
I have taught in informal and applied settings, including staff development, clinical consultation, supervision, and professional training environments. I am available to provide ethics trainings, clinical skills instruction, and continuing education programs for agencies, organizations, and multidisciplinary teams. My teaching style emphasizes critical thinking, ethical practice, cultural awareness, and real world application. I am open to teaching opportunities in criminal justice, social work, and sociology programs, as well as professional education and training collaborations.
-
Clinical Experience & Practice Settings
I earned my degree in criminal justice with an initial focus on forensics, drawn to understanding behavior and the systems that respond to harm. Over time, I realized my passion extended beyond analysis and outcomes and that I wanted to understand the why behind behavior and help people change their lives in meaningful ways. I chose to leave the forensic and legal world behind to pursue social work, where I could work directly with people, support healing at its source, and walk alongside individuals in recovery, growth, and transformation.
I tailor treatment to the client’s goals, nervous system needs, values, and lived experience, with an emphasis on collaboration, autonomy, and sustainable change.
Professional Philosophy
I believe healing happens at the intersection of safety, insight, and empowerment. My work honors the whole person — mind, body, identity, and context — while balancing compassion with thoughtful challenge. Whether providing therapy, supervision, or consultation, my goal is to create a space where clarity emerges, resilience strengthens, and meaningful change becomes possible
I have over 18 years of experience providing psychotherapy, supervision, and program leadership across a wide range of clinical environments, including:
Federal healthcare systems
Veterans Affairs medical centers
Military and Department of Defense behavioral health programs
Inpatient and outpatient mental health services
Substance use disorder treatment programs
Intensive outpatient and residential programs
Transitional housing and homelessness services
Child welfare and protective services
Hospice and end-of-life care
Telehealth and virtual behavioral health programs
My roles have included clinician, supervisor, program manager, subject-matter expert, educator, and acting service chief. I have led multidisciplinary teams, built programs from the ground up, and provided care to high-acuity and high-risk populations.
-
Licensure & Certifications
Clinical Licensure
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – North Carolina
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Virginia
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker – South Carolina
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Maine
Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Utah
Substance Use & Clinical Supervision
Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist
Certified Clinical Supervisor – Substance Abuse
Formerly Certified Substance Abuse Counselor
East Carolina University – Greenville, North CarolinaBachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
Completed 2011Master of Social Work
Completed 2013Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling
Completed 2013Master of Adult Education
Completed 2016Certificate in Community College Instruction
Completed 2016
Meagan Capers MSW, MAEd, LCAS, CCS, LCSW
Individual Counseling
Individual counseling offers a personalized space to explore your thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a supportive, nonjudgmental environment. I work with adults navigating anxiety, neurodivergence, trauma, identity, and life transitions through secure virtual therapy. I accept insurance through third-party platforms like Headway, Alma, and Grow, and also offer flexible self-pay options.
Sliding scale options may be available based on need and life transitions, please email Contact@abovethetides.com
Group Counseling
Group counseling offers a supportive space to connect with others who understand what you're going through. Led by a skilled therapist, each session provides tools for healing, personal growth, and building a sense of community. Whether you're navigating anxiety, grief, neurodivergence, or life transitions, group work can help you feel less alone and more empowered.
Consultation and Clinical Supervison
Clinical supervision and consultation at Above the Tides Counseling are designed to support growth, confidence, and ethical excellence in your professional journey. Whether you're a new clinician seeking supervision or an experienced therapist in need of case consultation, I provide a collaborative, affirming space to deepen your skills and navigate complex clinical work. Together, we’ll build insight, strengthen clinical judgment, and support your development as a grounded, effective practitioner.
Contact Us
At Above the Tides Counseling, you are seen, heard, and supported as you rise.
TIDES of healing: Transformation, Insight, Direction, Empowerment, and Support. —the foundation of the work we will do together. Healing is possible.
You have the power to transform pain into power. I invite you to take the next step toward reclaiming your life.
