Abigail Lanford
Abbey Lanford is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Visiting Instructor of Psychology at Flagler College. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Flagler College 2020 and went on to complete her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Marriage and Family Counseling at Jacksonville University in 2023.
In addition to her academic role, Abbey is the founder and owner of Ataraxia Counseling, a private group practice based in St. Augustine. She launched the practice in early 2024 as a private practice and, in under two years, has grown it into group practice employing five additional contractors and offering services beyond just therapy. Ataraxia Counseling provides trauma-informed care to adolescents, adults, couples and families, and offers a range of services including individual and couples therapy, EMDR therapy, psychiatric care, medication management, and trauma-informed yoga.
Abbey specializes in women’s mental health, trauma recovery, adolescent development, first responders, and relationships. Her clinical training includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Level 1 Gottman Method Couples Therapy, and fire service cultural competency training through UCF Restores. She is also contracted with the Elbow Tree Cooperative which serves as a resource for promoting first responder resilience in the St. John’s County community by offering support and counseling to fire rescue personnel, families, partners, and retirees. Her approach to both therapy and teaching is grounded in multicultural, feminist, humanistic and strengths-based frameworks.
Abbey is committed to bridging the gap between clinical practice and classroom learning. Her professional interests include counselor education, trauma theory, gender and identity development, and the sociopolitical impacts on mental health. Abbey is passionate about staying current with the latest research, sociopolitical issues, and therapeutic innovations to offer the most effective and up-to-date interventions and care to her clients and students.
Teaching
- Intro to Psychology
- Psychology of Personality
- Senior Seminar
- Science of Sleep
More Information
Abbey is a born and raised St Augustine local and was practically raised in the classroom as both her parents were schoolteachers in St Johns County. She attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts for high school for dance. She found a passion for helping others and desire to be able to "reading minds" from an early age, aka the perfect formula for psychology and therapy. Abbey discovered a love for psychology and mental health as she pursued her undergrad and master's and worked various jobs along the way such as teaching ballet, managing a warehouse (yes driving a forklift), making coffee at the beloved Sweetwater, and even at Stone Climbing as a manager and route setter. Abbey now still lives in sunny St Augustine with her husband Caige (who is also a therapist) and her cat, Zeppelin, and rescue dog, Kenzo. If Abbey isn't in the classroom or office, you can find her listening to Taylor Swift, reading a good book, or at any local coffee shop.