Polly HartVerified

LCSW Clinical Social Work Supervisor

The past 35 years she has practiced with the Atlanta Area Family Psychiatry Clinic specializing in work with adults, couples, parents, & children from elementary school through college age addressing behavior, school performance, and emotional difficulties. She has recently begun a small practice in Cumming. About one half of her practice is with adults, particularly work with women and couples. During these years she has also provided consultation and faculty education for several private schools in the North Atlanta community. She has worked at the State Legislature in the area of social policy, taught at a graduate college level, and has always provided supervision to beginning practitioners.

Polly’s professional avocation is the study of human behavior from disciplines such as anthropology, primatology, and behavioral biology. These viewpoints enhance understanding beyond the usual psychological understandings of human dilemmas.

Her personal interests include antiqueing, reading, writing, all things Green and many things Japanese. Polly and her husband Will, also a therapist, have raised three children, now adults. This experience certainly increased empathy for & understanding of both parents and children and added a good bit of humor and perspective. She appreciates participating in a practice where colleagues help support life-long learning and in her practice emphasizes the role of education in problem solving.

She maintains two professional designations: LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker conferred by the State of Georgia and BCD, Board Certified Diplomate conferred by the American Board of Examiners of Clinical Social Workers.

Supervision for professional practice is a major investment in learning and preparation for your entire career. Polly has been teaching and supervising since 1972 and her work with students and supervisees has been a major focus through the years. She describes her philosophy:

Supervision should be satisfying in and of itself and it should provide contexts & frameworks for understanding as well as very pragmatic, useable skills for immediate use. It should be case-centered and have a definable body of knowledge which provides a practice foundation and it should also allow for exploration of the supervisees personal goals and aspirations regarding their career. A wide variety of case situations as well as exposure to the work of other professionals is helpful for learning and provides a “big picture” not limited by the supervisees current work-place. Early supervised practice is an important time for exploration and for expanding horizons. I think of supervision with the following goals:

1.To facilitate a broad understanding of human problem solving with input from multiple perspectives.
2.To include considerations of biological functioning as well as givens in human nature to enhance clinical practice.
3.To support parts of the supervisory process that contribute to forming one’s professional identity.
4.To increase readiness for the licensing exam.
5.To increase clinical expertise so that clients are cared for and helped at the most competent level that the state of the art and science allow.

If this sounds like something you might like to try, please give me a call so we can meet . There is no charge for this first meeting and I always provide enough supervisory input so that you can count the hour we spend toward licensing. It’s a way to decide if what I offer and who I am would be a good “fit” for your learning.

Treatment Approach

Coaching

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Family Systems Therapy

Humanistic

Interpersonal

Intervention

Marital Therapy

Play Therapy

Relational Therapy

Treatment Modality

Couples

Family

Group

Individuals

Mental Health

Mood Disorders

Thinking Disorders

Issues

Academic Underachievement

Behavioral issues

Career Counseling

Child or Adolescent

Coping skills

Depression

Developmental Disorders

Family Conflict

Life Coaching

Other

Peer Relationships

Relationship issues

Teen Violence