Coastal Counseling of North Florida, LLC

A graduate of Tulane University (BA) and Florida State University (MSW), Polly Bauer, LCSW has spent decades serving individuals & organizations in the communities where she has lived: New Orleans, New York City, Chicago, Connecticut, and Greater Jacksonville/St. Augustine. Polly is a fully-trained Practitioner of Radically-Open DBT, an evidence-based treatment addressing over-control (Hyper-perfectionism, Refractory Depression, Anxiety, Anorexia Nervosa, & traits commonly experienced with OCD, Autism, & Obsessive Compulsive, Avoidant, and Dependent Personality Disorders). She provides comprehensive RO DBT indiv therapy, skills classes, and skills support btwn sessions. To ensure adherence to the treatment protocol, Polly meets weekly w/ her RO DBT consultation team and self-enquiry partner, and with a RO DBT senior clinician for supervision. She incorporates Radically Open DBT skills (self-enquiry, flexibility, curiosity, & awareness of social signaling in line w/valued goals) into her personal & professional life to help herself and her clients respond flexibly & find peace in a chaotic, ever-changing world. Foundationally Trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (2019 by Behavior Tech, a co. founded by Marsha Linehan), Polly provides a Standard DBT Advanced Group that meets the 3rd Tues of every month to help individuals keep their DBT skills fresh. Rachel Hillegass, LCSW is a graduate Florida State University (MSW) and has been working in Greater Jacksonville/St. Augustine with teens, adults, and older adults for nearly 2 decades at the Dept. of Juvenile Justice and as a Hospice Social Worker. She specializes in life transitions for teens & young adults as well as grief work including end-of-life support for families of older adults. Using a strength-based approach, Rachel compassionately works with clients to decrease anxiety and negative thoughts and increase effective coping. In addition, Rachel is actively engaged in RO DBT training through the training organization founded by Dr. Lynch, treatment developer. We are excited to welcome Melissa Tucker, a fully-trained RO DBT Practitioner and RMHCI to our team. She has extensive experience providing RO DBT to teens and adults through individual therapy and RO DBT skills classes. Melissa has a proven track record of helping parents, couples, and families to improve communication & interpersonal issues, and better manage family member's mental and physical conditions. If you are a professional, looking to treat burnout, compassion fatigue and social anxiety, Melissa is skilled at creating individualized plans to address specific concerns and help you achieve wellness and reduce symptoms of stress. Polly, Rachel, & Melissa passionately and firmly believe that within each of us (often buried deep) is the inner wisdom we need to envision and work towards the life we want to live...a life worth living & sharing.