Mark de Villier,  MSW, LPC |

Licensed Professional Counselor​

 

Mark P. de Villier, MSW, LPC began his career with the Medical University of South Carolina working within the Department of Psychiatry on the Adolescent Inpatient Unit. He took advantage of the teaching environment to study with some of the leading clinicians treating adolescents and their families. He was asked in 1980 to lead a struggling residential program as the clinical and administrative director. While doing this he was also involved with assisting in developing a family oriented Intensive Outpatient Treatment program for an area Alcohol and Drug Commission. This program evolved to a model of care using the Multiple Family Group Therapy modality. Mark later worked with a Private Psychiatric Hospital in Atlanta, GA but returned to South Carolina when he had the opportunity to assist in developing an innovative campus of care model of service which assisted in making intensive psychiatric service more affordable to families and community agencies. Over a 15 year period Mark and his associates expanded the program to a level where they employed 600 professionals and provided care for approximately 300 children a day on four campuses. Mark retired in 1999 only to be recruited to assist other psychiatric services. This eventually led to Mark starting Atwater Counseling Center which included outpatient and residential services. In 2009 Mark and his family moved to Virginia to allow his wife to pursue her educational goals. He worked as a therapist for an area residential treatment center and eventually moved back to private practice. In 2015, Mark and his wife decided to open Ashby Gap Psychiatric Center due to the high need for quality mental health services in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mark has an emphasis on working with adolescents and their families, specializing in adolescents with oppositional behaviors, anxiety, ADHD and depression. He has extensive experience working with families and multi-family therapy groups. He provides counseling for adults struggling with Relationship Issues, Anxiety, Affective Disorders, Anger Management, and Father - Son issues. Mark’s approach to care is a Cognitive Behavioral approach with focus on the communication of feelings between individuals and their family systems. Mark’s approach to counseling involves assisting the individual in addressing their feelings, thinking and behaviors within their systems of functioning. He encourages patients to become aware of the communication process and practice foresight, insight and hindsight relative to the interactions with others. Mark has provided clinical supervision for LPC Candidates in South Carolina and Virginia. Over the near 35 years in the Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug field, Mark has worked in both clinical and administrative positions, was the founder of Atwater Counseling Center, assisted in the development of New Hope Treatment Centers and worked with Alcohol and Drug Commissions in South Carolina. He worked with Grafton Integrated Health Network as a therapist and clinical supervisor for LPC candidates. He has been a trainer for Professional Counselors and Social Worker in South Carolina and a consultant to residential treatment centers. He has developed Employee Assistance Programs, worked with industry to enhance team work, improve internal communication and focus on positivity.

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Education:  

Masters in Social Work with emphasis in Micro and Macro Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Bachelor of Science in Psychology, College of Charleston, SC.

      

Services:  

Mark de Villier, specializes in working with Developmental Issues of Adolescents which involve relationships with parents and authority figures, gender and sexual identity issues, peer groups/friends and career path decisions. He works with Oppositional adolescents and their families. He works with individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, Anger Management and communication within relationships. He provides Individual, Couples and Family therapies, works with parenting issues, Father-Sons relationships. He does provide supervision for Professional Counselor candidates.  

 

Licenses:

Professional Counselor, Commonwealth of Virginia Professional

 

Organizations:

National Association of Social Workers.