Dr. Maegan Renee, PHD
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR
ABOUT MAEGAN…
Counseling Style:
Cognitive behavior therapist (CBT) at the core. What does that mean? Helping you identify negative thoughts and your internal script in order to explore how that is contributing to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem or maladaptive behaviors.
Ready to help you confront your negative beliefs in order to re-write your internal script and gain confidence in your abilities and self-worth.
Education and Licensure:
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): requires a Master’s degree in counseling from a CACREP accredited program, a passing score on the National Counselor Examination, obtainment of 3,000 hours of counseling services provided while engaging in weekly meetings with licensed professional supervisor and continuous professional development.
Nationally Certified Counselor.
Licensed Professional Counselor.
PhD Counseling: Auburn University (2019).
Life Journey, so far:
Born in Sylacauga, Alabama, USA to a working class family. Her mother and father were not afforded the opportunity to attend college.
Grew up in Weogufka, Alabama where counseling resources were minimal to non-existent for Maegan. So she decided at the age of 13, after checking out library books on psychology, to one day be a counselor in order to help others.
Started working at the age of 14 as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army. At the age of 16 she worked at a Subway restaurant, then at a camp for children and adults with disabilities, and by 18 she was managing a local “Curves for Women” gym. She used these opportunities to save enough money to buy her first car, pay for food, gas, and car insurance, as her parents both lost their jobs at a local blue jean factory when she was 17, and therefore could not offer her substantial financial support.
Used these financial struggles as a catalysis to start working towards her dream to escape poverty and be the first in her family to achieve a college degree in order to become a counselor.
Began community college in 2003 on a scholarship and Pell grant money and graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in special education in 2008 and immediately started working on her Master’s degree in counseling, while working full time as a school teacher, as she held on to that goal she had as a 13 year old and was determined to become a counselor.
By the age of 24 she achieved her Master’s degree in Counseling and then went on to achieve her PhD in Counseling in 2019.
After years of working in the counseling field for schools, she founded her own private practice, M.R. Counseling and Consulting, in 2016.
She has been teaching since 2020 counseling graduate programs at different US universities.
She co-founded ToBeOptimized.com with life coach and serial entrepreneur Francois Braine-Bonnaire, in 2019.
Personal Information:
Based in the USA, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Enjoys traveling, exploring and learning.