Contact Elizabeth Directly
elizabeth.nunley@gmail.com
I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Social Work from Union University in 2005 and my Masters in Social Work from the University of Tennessee in 2007. I became licensed as a clinical social worker in 2010. I have experience working as a social worker in the psychiatric hospital, school system and healthcare settings. I have been in private practice for fifteen years.
As a social worker, I believe that systems of oppression lead to cultural burdens that, when witnessed and unburdened, can lead to freedom, integration and wholeness. I love working holistically with clients, addressing issues in all areas of life: emotional, spiritual and physical.
I am trained in Internal Family Systems Therapy, or “parts work”. This model of therapy has been a huge part of my own journey. After experiencing IFS as a client, I decided to become trained as an IFS therapist. I truly feel as though I have experienced the model from the inside out, which makes me more present and understanding of my clients as they embark on this journey of self-discovery.
I love addressing the spiritual aspects that, if allowed, often surface during the therapeutic process. I strive to create an atmosphere of safety, empathy and respect in which clients can address their wide range of feelings and beliefs around God and their spirituality. I do my best to meet clients where they are in their spiritual journey, and hold the same space for doubt, anger, questions and confusion that I allow myself in my own spirituality.
I feel that my role as a therapist is not just a profession, but a deeper invitation to a fully integrated way of living. I am committed to my own personal work (regular therapy, bodywork and other healing modalities) and do my best to practice what I preach. I want my clients to feel like I am with them on this journey and that I simply serve as a guide, not an expert or one who has “arrived” (since there is not such thing). It is my hope that clients feel the sacredness with which I view our work.
I feel hesitant to claim a “specialty” or even list type of clients, issues or diagnoses (which I hold very loosely) that I work with. I enjoy lots of types of clients with varying stuck places, needs, strengths and life experiences. I do appreciate conversations in therapy around mothering, neurodivergent children, healing from rigid religion, befriending anxiety, self compassion and the brutal yet beautiful journey of grief.
When I’m not seeing clients, I am busy mothering my three children, attempting to have an uninterrupted conversation with my husband Adam, staying connected with friends, learning to speak Spanish (pocco a pocco) and trying to lean into peace and quiet wherever I can find it. I also teach a course on Internal Family Systems at UT College of Social Work each spring.
