Lisa Long - May Tree Counseling - Licensed Professional Trauma Counselor in Brentwood TN - Trauma Therapy

Lisa Long

LPC/MHSP, NCC, CCATP

lisa@maytreecounseling.com

Lisa Long, LPC-MHSP, NCC, CCATP is a Licensed Professional Counselor with advanced training in the neurobiology of complex trauma and anxiety and a clinical specialty in moral injury.

She works with adults healing from moral injury, relational trauma, anxiety, and complex trauma, including experiences of narcissistic abuse and systemic or interpersonal betrayal.

Her approach integrates evidence-based methods such as EMDR and Brainspotting, grounded in attuned therapeutic presence. She prioritizes relational safety, thoughtful pacing, and respect for each client’s lived experience.

Clients often share that they feel deeply understood, not only in their symptoms but in the meaning behind what they have lived through.

  • Doctoral Student, Clinical Counseling: Teaching, and Supervision – Trevecca Nazarene University (Projected Graduation: 2026)
  • Master of Arts (MA), Clinical Mental Health Counseling – Trevecca Nazarene University
  • International and Professional Counseling Honors Society Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) 
  • Theta Nu Upsilon (TNU)
  • American Counseling Association (ACA) 
  • Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)
  • Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES) 
  • Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor’s Association (TLPCA)
  • Tennessee Counseling Association (TCA)
  • National Certified Counselor (NCC) – NBCC Board Certified
  • EMDR 1 & 2 with EMDRIA approved EMDR Institute, Inc.
  • Brainspotting Phase 1 & 2
  • Clearing Limbic Countertransference – Southeast Brainspotting Institute
  • Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP)
    • Anxiety Certification Masterclass: Brain-Based Strategies for Panic, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety, GAD, OCD & PTSD
    • Rewiring the Anxious Brain
    • Anxiety Certification Course
  • Complete IFS Therapy Immersion: Integrating the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model Across Clinical Applications
  • Trauma Conference: The Body Keeps the Score-Trauma Healing with Bessel van der Kolk, MD
  • Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Global Summit (2023 & 2024)
  • Helping Clients Rewire the Traumatized Brain – TLPCA (2020); TNU (2021, 2022)
  • Fostering Therapeutic Presence: Cultivating Counselors in Training – TLPCA (2024); SACES (2024); TNU (2025)
  • A Qualitative Exploration of Counseling Trainees’ Development of a Theoretical Orientation – ACES (2025), TCA (2025)
  • The Supervision Equation: Balancing Alliance, Ambiguity, and Openness for Optimal Development – ACES (2025)
  • Innovative Integration: Utilizing AI in Counselor Education and Supervision – TLPCA (2024)
  • Experiences with Hybrid Doctoral Practicum Supervision: Relationships, Disclosure, and Growth – ACES (2023)
  • Supervision Potpourri – TLPCA (2023)
  • Impairment and Wellness for Counselors and Social Workers: Ethical Considerations – MNPD (2023)
  • Exploring the Multifaceted Roles of Ketamine in Psychiatric and Neurological Therapeutics – TNU (2023)
  • Thin Notes: Clinical Documentation that Protects Clients – TNU (2023)
  • Artificial Intelligence in Counseling Environments – TNU (2023)
  • Taking the Stress Out of Documentation – TLPCA (2025); TCA (2025)
  • Streamlining Clinical Notes: Evaluating AI, Traditional Methods, and Ethical Standards, TLPCA (2025)

Lisa Long has been married to her husband, Tom, since 1994. They have two adult children and share their home with their miniature dachshund, Millie Ray. Outside of her clinical work, Lisa values time with her family and engages in activities that support steadiness and reflection, including gardening, knitting, crocheting, reading, writing, and ongoing research.

Prior to becoming a counselor, Lisa spent 27 years in pastoral ministry. That work involved teaching, mentoring, and sustained listening within complex relational and organizational systems. These experiences inform her clinical perspective today—particularly her sensitivity to power dynamics, moral injury, and the long-term impact of environments where authority, trust, or care were misused. This background supports an approach to counseling that is thoughtful, discerning, and grounded in respect for context rather than assumption.

Clinical Focus & Specialty

Lisa Long works with adults impacted by relational trauma, betrayal, moral injury, and complex developmental wounds. Her clinical focus includes the effects of narcissistic abuse, chronic invalidation, power misuse in relationships or systems, and the long-term emotional, relational, and nervous-system consequences that follow.

Moral Injury as the Organizing Framework

Moral injury is the primary lens guiding Lisa’s work. Rather than treating symptoms in isolation, therapy centers on the harm that occurs when trust, values, dignity, or relational safety are violated—especially by people or systems that were supposed to protect, guide, or care.

This framework allows therapy to address shame, self-betrayal, identity disruption, and loss of meaning alongside trauma responses.

How It Differs From Fear-Based Trauma

Fear-based trauma focuses on threat and survival responses. Moral injury focuses on violation, betrayal, and ethical rupture.

Clients often say:

  • “I wasn’t just scared—I was betrayed.”
  • “I knew it was wrong, and I was trapped.”
  • “My values were used against me.”

This distinction matters. Treating moral injury as anxiety alone can unintentionally deepen shame. Naming it accurately facilitates relief, clarity, and a different path forward.

Who She Works With

Lisa works with adults who have been impacted by betrayal, relational trauma, chronic invalidation, or moral conflict. Many clients are thoughtful, capable, and self-aware, yet carry deep exhaustion, shame, or mistrust from past relationships or systems.

This work is especially relevant for those who feel they have “outgrown” symptom-only approaches.

Many clients arrive having previously engaged in trauma work yet still feel stuck, unseen, or fundamentally altered. Moral injury names what was harmed—not just what was feared. It validates the reality that some wounds come from violation, not danger.

When moral injury is addressed directly, healing becomes less about fixing the self and more about restoring agency, clarity, and relational trust.

Lisa’s approach is relational, trauma-informed, and deliberately paced. Therapy is collaborative, grounded, and attentive to power dynamics at every stage.

Attunement

Sessions emphasize emotional and nervous-system attunement. Lisa tracks not only what is said, but how it is held in the body and relationship. Clients are not pushed past what feels internally safe or coherent.

Relational Safety

Therapy prioritizes felt safety over performance or productivity. Clients are not required to convince, explain, or prove their pain. Repair, consent, and transparency are central to the therapeutic relationship.

Pacing and Power Dynamics

Careful pacing protects against reenactment of harm. Lisa remains attentive to authority, influence, and vulnerability—especially for clients with histories of coercion, spiritual abuse, or relational control.

What Therapy With Lisa Is Like

Therapy with Lisa is steady, relational, and respectful. Sessions are calm and intentional rather than emotionally performative.

Clients often experience increased clarity, self-trust, emotional steadiness, and a gradual return to their own internal authority—without being rushed or reduced to a diagnosis.