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Samantha Long
Samantha Long, PHD, LPC, RPT, CCTP, NCC
Dr. Samantha (Sam) Long is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Virginia, a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), and holds the certified clinical trauma professional (CCTP) certification. Sam has received her PhD in Counseling Education and Supervision from The George Washington University, her Master's in Clinical Mental Health with a specialization of children and adolescents from Northwestern University and her Bachelor's in Psychology from Missouri Western State University. Sam has been practicing in the field since 2017.
Sam has had the opportunity to work in a residential treatment facility and outpatient mental health group practices in Iowa and Virginia. Sam has been fortunate to work with and alongside a wide variety of clinical experiences experienced by children, adolescents, and adults, and throughout those experiences, found her passion: working with children. Sam utilizes play therapy, specifically a Humanistic lens to support children in their healing.
As a counselor, Sam emphasizes the importance of child development, brain development, culturally appropriate practices, and a trauma-informed approach and works through the lens that play is the natural language of children. Sam specializes working with children ages 4-12 years old and has experience working with common emotional and behavioral issues, anxiety, adjustment-related struggles, attachment, and trauma-related concerns. Sam believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship and values a collaborative approach which includes working with caregivers.
Sam’s research focuses on adverse childhood experiences and the efficacy of child-centered therapies and the importance of school counselor and school nurse collaborations to combat the mental health crisis in schools. Sam is currently a faculty professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Counseling Program and serves as the Vice President of the Association for Play Therapy and a Co-Chair for the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling. Samantha won the Virginia Play Therapist of the Year in 2024!