Sumi Holman, MSW, LCSW-C
Sumi is a licensed clinical social worker with 15 years of experience in the mental health field. Throughout her career, Sumi has taken a special interest in learning how to provide empathic and supportive counseling to individuals who have a history of anxiety, depression, and other chronic mental health issues. Sumi has a strong specialization in working with complex trauma and considers all her counseling to be trauma informed. Sumi also welcomes clients who are in active recovery from substance abuse who are looking for supplemental individual counseling.
Sumi specializes in working with teens and young adults. She welcomes clients who are BIPOC, LGBT, and believes in the value of gender affirming care. She knows that adolescence and young adulthood are full of impactful times when you may need a little extra support. Let's navigate middle school, high school, college, and beyond together! You've got this!
Sumi provides a non judgmental and safe space for young people to speak freely about their daily life stressors, their biggest hopes, and deepest fears. Counseling with Sumi is aimed to help build confidence, self-esteem, grow self awareness, and to create self care plans that her clients can take with them on the journey of life.
Sumi knows that counseling teens helps them set a strong foundation for having a fulfilling and successful adulthood.
Supporting teenagers and young adults is challenging for parents too! Sumi often provides supportive parent coaching to her client's parents.
Sumi is a psychodynamically trained therapist. Her therapeutic style is active, supportive, energetic, and direct. She believes that developing an open, honest, and collaborative relationship with each client helps to enhance the therapeutic work being done. Sumi engages with her clients, provides them with helpful feedback, assists with problem-solving, and collaborates with each individual on how to reach treatment goals in a realistic and customized way.
Sumi's work history has taken her many places over the years. She was a clinical intern at Sheppard Pratt Hospital in the Adolescent Inpatient Unit, as well as at the D.C. Rape Crisis Center where she provided individual and group counseling, and Hotline services. Sumi also served as a sexual assault advocate at the Washington Hospital Center. She proudly worked at the Betty Ann Krahnke Center for domestic violence as a lead individual counselor on the residential clinical team, and has provided individual and group counseling to over 300 domestic violence survivors. Throughout her career, Sumi has provided counseling to a diverse population of clients in the community mental health setting as well as within a group private practice.
Sumi is a native to Montgomery County, MD. Although she went out of state for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she always found herself returning home!
Sumi is licensed in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Louisiana.
Educations & Certifications:
- Master of Social Work: Smith College School of Social Work, Northampton, MA
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology: Albright College, Reading Pennsylvania (Cum Laude)
Treatment Areas:
- Life transitions of adolescence & young adulthood
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mood
- Trauma including sexual assault
- Adoption related issues
- Marital Issues (supplementary to couples counseling)
- Pregnancy, postpartum & new mother wellness
- Substance abuse (for clients in active recovery)
Presentations, Groups, & Workshops:
- Teen Support group
- Parent Support Group
- Clinical Training: Understanding the Dynamics of Relationship Abuse, treatment options to consider
- Walter Johnson High School 2017 Health and Wellness Summit: Stress Management for Adolescents
- 2020 Group Facilitator for The National Institute of Health (NIH) Office of Intramural Training and Education