story by Claire Miller
As the eldest daughter and granddaughter in her family, Christen Anglin (M.Ed. ’15) often took on caregiving responsibilities for her siblings and cousins.
Those experiences, along with the countless hours spent working at a day care and summer camps in high school, helped her decide that she wanted to pursue a career working with children.
“That was my starting point – my aptitude for caregiving,” she said. “I have all the patience in the world for kids.”
She applied for the master’s program in school counseling in Georgia State University’s College of Education & Human Development, where she instantly connected with the school counseling faculty.
“When I got into the interview room, it was such a comfortable environment. The words just flowed,” she said. “It was such a great interview experience that I had another interview at another school afterward and didn’t go to it.”
Anglin was accepted into the program and found herself drawn to play therapy, where licensed therapists “use the powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development,” according to the Association for Play Therapy.
She remembers taking a play therapy class with Tiffany McNary, founding director of the Advanced Center for Play Therapy and Expressive Arts, and felt like the class was designed specifically for her.
“As a child, I think I would have benefitted from play therapy,” she said. “I want to give that to kids who may not otherwise have access to it.”
Anglin graduated from Georgia State in 2015 and has spent the last 10 years working as a school counselor in the DeKalb County School District, Atlanta Public Schools and the City Schools of Decatur.
In that time, she worked as a school counselor at an elementary school near her childhood home, became the founding counselor at the DeKalb County Early Learning Center and gained valuable experience serving students from different backgrounds.
One of the best parts of Anglin’s job is developing relationships with the students she serves. She remembers one student in particular who was getting in trouble often, and she worked hard to get to know him and his family.
“We really forged a bond because he kind of looked like my son and I looked a little like his mom. We really connected,” she said. “His great-grandmother gained custody of him and changed the trajectory of his life. They chose me to be his godmother, which is so meaningful to me.”
Recently, Anglin decided to start her own private practice and provide play therapy services to her community. After earning her specialist in education in clinical supervision degree with a concentration in play therapy, she opened Trust the Process Counseling in spring 2024.
She provides individual and family therapy sessions for the youngest learners, which allows her to have more one-on-one time with her clients and their caregivers.
“When I began, my goal was to be a go-to person for play therapy in the African American community in Atlanta because play therapy isn’t as well known, especially in that community,” she said. “It’s gaining more traction now. When you think of play therapy in Atlanta, I want you think of Christen Anglin.”
Anglin also takes time to speak with future school counselors at Georgia State so that she can connect with students entering the field and encourage them to consider play therapy as a career path.
Her advice to them? “Be the therapist that you needed as a kid because oftentimes, people enter the helping professions because that’s what they needed as a younger person,” she said. “If you let that guide your interventions, you’ll be exactly what the kids need.”
Anglin’s early caregiving experiences led her to a successful career in a helping profession and every day, she’s able to make an impact on children, their families and their communities.
Trust the Process Counseling
Christen Anglin’s (M.Ed. ’15) counseling practice provides face-to-face play therapy sessions with children and virtual teletherapy sessions with both children and adolescents.
Services
- Individual therapy
- Academic consulting
- Family therapy
Areas of Expertise
- Adjustment disorder
- Anxiety
- Attachment issues
- Bullying
- Chronic impulsivity
- Depression
- Parenting
- School issues
- Self-esteem
- Separation anxiety
- Social anxiety
- Suicidal ideation
- Trauma
Insurance Accepted
- Aetna
- Anthem
- United Healthcare
- Medicaid
Contact Information
770-847-0155
https://www.trusttheprocessatl.com