Trauma Competent Clinician

Offers evidence-based Trauma Competent Clinician ® training in partnership with Melinda Paige Ph.D. Our Narrative

Melinda Paige Ph.D. Melinda Paige Ph.D.

TCC provides training, supervision, and consultation for trauma professionals LPC, CPCS, NCC

Melinda Paige earned a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Practice and an Ed.S in Professional Counseling from Georgia State University. She has twenty years of clinical experience serving survivors of trauma as well as trauma mental health training and consultation experience. Author of the Trauma Competen

t Clinician ® Model is based on her qualitative research. Dr. Paige is a counselor educator and subject matter expert for trauma impact and counseling curricula. She is a licensed professional counselor, certified professional counselor supervisor, and nationally certified counselor. Dr. Paige was the recipient of the Chi Sigma Iota International Outstanding Practitioner Award (2014), the American Counseling Association Professional Development Award (2018), and the Chi Sigma Iota International Outstanding Faculty Award (2018). Dr. Paige has published and presented nationally on trauma competency, protective factors in the prevention of secondary trauma, and self-injury. Melinda Paige is the founding Secretary of the International Association for Resilience and Trauma Counseling a newly formed organizational affiliate with the American Counseling Association. LPC, CPCS, NCC provides trauma counseling through the Atlanta Relationship Institute
https://atlri.com/about/#whoweare. Call (770) 771-6900 to make an appointment with Melinda Paige Ph.D. for counseling services. Trauma Competent Clinician ® is a registered trademark of Melinda Paige Ph.D. DISCLAIMER: Please note that this is not a Therapy site nor does it offer direct therapeutic service of any kind. All comments on this page are monitored with respect to the diversity of our community. Please do not post any personal trauma history in comment sessions as these will be deleted due to privacy and safety concerns ON FACEBOOK. This is a PUBLIC page and all settings are PUBLIC - unlike your Personal pages where you can control who reads posts by changing Settings. Thank you! Copyright 2019-2022 by Center for Trauma Competency LLC DBA Trauma Competent Clinician ® - All Rights Reserved.

01/20/2026

01/18/2026

I nurture my mental health from an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, by protecting my body’s need for safety, dignity, and connection.

I pay attention to what’s happening inside me. Not to analyze it, but to stay in relationship with my own sensations, rhythms, and limits. If something feels overwhelming, I don’t push through it. I reduce the load.

I choose environments and people that treat me with respect. My system eases when I’m around consistency, honesty, and care. I step back from spaces that run on hierarchy, pressure, or contempt.

I move my body in ways that feel coherent and kind. Not for performance or productivity, but to complete actions and come back to myself.

I let regulation happen in relationship. I don’t isolate and call it independence. I build community where I can be real and not punished for it.

I don’t try to “fix” myself. I focus on creating conditions where my nervous system can do what it already knows how to do: come back into balance when it’s no longer being overwhelmed.

Image: my painting of how I feel when I nurture my health and well-being.

01/18/2026

Thank you for sharing J. Mike Fields 🕊️

1. This is why staying with sensation matters early on. The body needs to learn that the present is different before the past can be touched without harm. Regulation must come first, not as a technique, but as a condition of safety. Without it, the story pulls you backward instead of allowing you to stay here. But there is another moment, and it matters just as much.

2. Continued in comments.