Blog Category: Therapists
Zara Steinhart
Profile
LMFT
Therapist
Zara Steinhart (she/her) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) who specializes in working with young folks and their families as they move toward recovery from their eating disorders. Zara is originally from sunny San Diego, California and currently works at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Veritas Collaborative. She holds a BA in Archaeological Sciences (yes, you read that right) from the University of Washington, as well as an MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Carolina University. She most frequently provides individual, couple, and family therapy utilizing internal family systems, emotion-focused, and narrative styles of therapy. Additionally, Zara provides group therapy and therapeutic meals with patients and their families.
Zara is most passionate about the importance of incorporating a patient’s contexts and systems (most frequently their families) into the treatment process along with challenging toxic diet culture and destructive body image ideals.
Outside of work, you will find Zara hanging with her best pal (a pit bull named Gatsby), riding horses, painting, or learning something new and cool about space.
Emerald Smith
Profile
LCMHC, ATR-BC
Therapist
Emerald Smith is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor – Qualified Supervisor, a Board-Certified Registered Art Therapist, and a Registered Yoga Teacher with over 18 years of mental health experience. She attended Earlham College, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Studio Art and earned her Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has focused the past nine years of her work on exclusively working with families and individuals of all ages living with an eating disorder in inpatient, residential, and partial hospitalization levels of care. She has additional training in both acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Emerald believes in the power of creativity and enjoys witnessing the strength and resiliency of patients as they navigate recovery
Elouise Cram
Profile
LCSWA
Therapist
Elouise Cram (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Associate at Veritas Collaborative. She obtained her undergraduate degree in public health from Clemson University (go tigers!) and her MSW from the University of South Carolina (go cocks!). She has worked in several eating disorder treatment settings across various levels of care.
Elouise appreciates bringing the values of curiosity, collaboration, and willingness into her therapeutic approach. She enjoys working with individuals to find peace with their food, their bodies, and themselves. While her practice is primarily acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-informed, she also incorporates principles and tools from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and emotion-focused therapy (EFT). Elouise is excited to hold warm, validating, and often humor-filled space (when appropriate!) to work alongside individuals of all ages.
When not at work, Elouise can be found smashing pickleballs, listening to Maggie Rogers, or chasing her rescue doodle, Poppy.
Katelyn Swan
Profile
LCSWA
Therapist
Katelyn Swan (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate (LCSWA) in North Carolina. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Women’s Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated with a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She began her career at Veritas Collaborative in 2021 and has experience working with individuals with multiple types of eating disorder diagnoses across various levels of care, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP), and outpatient care.
In addition to specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, Katelyn is also interested in treating co-occurring disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She is passionate about approaching therapy from a nonjudgmental, empathetic, and collaborative perspective, utilizing a combination of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and acceptance and commitment Therapy (ACT). Katelyn particularly enjoys working with adults, and is able to provide individual, couples, family, and group therapy to clients of all ages.
Amy Laster
Profile
LCMHC
Therapist
Amy Laster (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of North Carolina, having earned her Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. Since 2019, Amy has been working at Veritas Collaborative with individuals struggling with all types of eating disorders, across numerous levels of care. She is an experienced resource for patients, able to provide individual therapy, family therapy, couples therapy, group therapy, clinical supervision, and therapeutic meal support to patients of any age. She utilizes an integrated approach to therapy which incorporates features of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and exposure and response prevention (ERP). The therapy she provides is trauma-informed and features evidence-based interventions geared toward each patient’s individual needs. In addition to specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, Amy also has experience treating numerous co-occurring disorders such as anxiety, depression, and OCD.
In addition to clinical work, Amy is also one of the clinical managers at Veritas’ Triangle Outpatient Center. In this role, she acts as both clinical and frontline staff support for adult PHP, adult IOP, adolescent PHP, adolescent IOP, and outpatient services.
Amy loves to learn and assisted in developing group therapy curriculum utilized across the Accanto Health system. In general, she strongly believes therapeutic progress is underpinned by thorough assessment and development of an evidence-based treatment plan for the treatment of eating disorders. She is also passionate about increasing access to care for all individuals in need and enjoys partnering with external providers throughout the community to provide education regarding the detection and treatment of eating disorders. One of Amy’s goals is to grow awareness of inherent biases around categories such as body size and nutrition, as well as to break down the stigmas related to eating disorders and the impact they have on individuals struggling with eating disorders.
Alyssa Murray
Profile
LMFTA
Therapist
Alyssa Murray is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate (LMFTA) in the state of North Carolina. She graduated with an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Liberty University in 2018 and has since been working under the supervision of Dr. Vanessa Kent, PhD.
Alyssa specializes in the treatment of adolescents (ages 7+), adults, and families, utilizing an approach she tailors to the presenting concerns of the client(s). She frequently employs dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for the treatment of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and self-injurious behaviors. She enjoys using humor and various mindfulness-based approaches in therapy and takes a collaborative approach to ensure her clients play an active role in their treatment.
With over six years of experience working with adolescent eating disorders, as both a therapeutic assistant and clinician in both inpatient/residential care settings and outpatient, Alyssa has a passion for helping clients (and their families) heal through their own recovery process. She particularly loves working with tweens and teens, and strongly believes that learning mindfulness and various ways to cope with strong emotions as an adolescent can result in stronger emotional regulation skills as an adult. Beyond DBT, Alyssa also has clinical experience utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), CBT-E, and solutions-focused therapy, and she counsels from a family systems perspective. Outside of direct client care, she enjoys working in group settings providing psychoeducation and support for families and community of support members. For clients wishing to incorporate faith into their treatment process, Alyssa offers Christian counseling interventions.
*Alyssa provides telehealth services only.