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Individual · Couples ·
Family · Group Psychotherapy · Trauma |
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History of Meramec Counseling
Carla Cunningham and
Donna Kitchen began Meramec Counseling as a partnership in 1985. The name
was chosen because our office at the time was on South Meramec in Clayton
and because Carla never liked saying that our practice was one of
“psychotherapy”. She was a counselor by education and training and she just
preferred the word counseling. I think she thought it was more down to
earth.
Carla had begun her
individual private practice in 1973. She had received her Masters in
Education and Counseling from St. Louis University in 1972 and worked for a
year at Wohl Hospital which a psychiatric hospital associated with what was
then Cardinal Glennon Hospital. She had had an internship there and then
worked there for a year before beginning her private practice. Carla was
the true founder of Meramec Counseling in that her vision and leadership
skills brought together in practice a diverse group of people who all wanted
to grow and change and be respectful of themselves and others. Carla always
had ideas for community. She wanted everyone she loved to have a support
group system and in a way we believe that she was building family for
herself and those to whom she was close.
Carla worked privately
for several years and then shared office space with Elaine Kornblum, MSW.
Elaine passed away in 1985 and it was after that sad loss that Meramec
Counseling began. Donna and Carla were the only partners for several
years. Linda Pilcher, MSW, and Marian Hirsch, MSW, were associates for
several of those years. In , Marian became a partner and when Linda
received her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology, she became a consultant for
Meramec Counseling.
Carla Cunningham stayed
the leader and guiding force behind Meramec Counseling through our move from
Clayton to Maplewood in 1989. Carla was diagnosed with breast cancer in
1991 and she died from the disease on March 6, 2000. Her death left Meramec
Counseling with a clear directive to carry on in the tradition which Carla
had begun. Our loss was deep and we still wonder and imagine regularly what
she would think and say about all that is going on in our world. Carla had
a unique vision and incisive ability to read a situation clearly. Most of
us owe the quality of our lives to her influence. To read more about
Carla’s history, go to the link to The Carla Cunningham Foundation.
Melinda Fry became an associate when she began teaching the Women’s SNAP
(Self-Nurturing, Anger and Problem-solving) classes at Meramec Counseling in
1995.
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