Carrie Holl, Psy.D.

carrie hollDr. Carrie Holl M.A., Psy.D is a licensed clinical psychologist in Virginia (active in 1999) and Washington DC (2001).  Her areas of specialty are Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).  She has daytime office hours at the Growth and Recovery Center on Mondays.

Training:

Dr. Carrie Holl Psy.D received a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy from Pepperdine University (1994). She completed practicum training at a therapeutic school for children (Julia Ann Singer Center) and in substance abuse (Tarzana Treatment Center).

In 1998, she completed a doctorate in clinical psychology at Pepperdine University’s APA accredited program. There were two focal areas in her training: CBT and marriage and family therapy.  In addition, she completed training in psychological, psychoeducational, and neuropsychological testing.  Her doctoral level practicum experiences included the following:  1) the Airport Marina community based counseling center, 2) Kaiser Permanente Hospital, 3) Pepperdine’s counseling center, 4) Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center (LAC+USC), and 5) Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

In 1997, she came to Virginia to pursue her pre-doctoral internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington DC.  In this APA accredited internship, she completed rotations in general medicine and surgery consults, nursing home and rehabilitation care, and neuropsychological assessments.  She enjoyed the DC area so much, that she and her family relocated and stayed on the East Coast.

After completing her doctorate, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  She worked in behavioral healthcare services doing CBT, pre-surgical psychological evaluations, neuropsychological screenings, and in the Meyer 6 chronic pain treatment center.

Current Clinical Practice:

While Dr. Holl’s training originally was in California during a time of managed care, where directed and time limited treatment was sometimes required, she has maintained herself as a strong proponent of evidenced based CBT.  It allows for clients to learn skills to alleviate concerning symptoms in a more time effective fashion, and carry these tools forward into a self-directed symptom management approach. She is the first to acknowledge, however, that the fit of a client to CBT is an important consideration to demonstrate results as found in research.  It requires regular practice and application of the skill set.

CBT is a predominantly here and now focused treatment approach, with the aim of providing direct symptom relieving measures. This is achieved through a skill development approach that is implemented both in and outside of sessions. It can also sometimes be used in conjunction with other therapeutic methods.

From a CBT perspective, emotional symptoms follow characteristic patterns. CBT focuses on helping clients better understand these patterns in a dynamic and curious way, so that clients feel empowered to make changes necessary for symptom relief.

As the name suggests, there are two focal points for treatment:

  1. our thoughts and beliefs that act as our filter for the world and our immediate environment, and
  2. our daily behavior and behavioral response patterns to stress and change.

For example, in the case of panic things are often avoided when it causes discomfort or fear. These situations also come to be viewed as a threat. However, to continue to distance from perceived threats does not allow for the client to understand how to work the symptoms through.  When they are triggered again, they often feel overwhelming and this can again trigger panic.

The clients that seem to benefit most from this approach are curious, as well as are open to the idea that the practice of new skills is important and necessary. The ultimate goal is to teach the individual how to become his or her own therapist with symptom management.  Once graduation from treatment occurs, Dr. Holl’s doors remain open for “only as requested” visits.

Common Referral Areas:

  • OCD
  • Panic Disorder
  • GAD (Generalized Anxiety)
  • Social Anxiety
  • Major Depression
  • Dysthymia
  • Double Depression-Major Depression with co-existing Dysthymia
  • Bipolar
  • Adjustment Reactions with Anxiety and/or Depression (workplace, home)
  • Behavioral Medicine:  coping with chronic health issues

Other:

After working at Georgetown Hospital for several years, Dr. Holl has maintained an affiliation with the hospital as a voluntary faculty member. In this role, she as assumed responsibilities such as supervising psychiatry residents, acting a preceptor in the Patient-Physician medical school course, and doing Family System’s Didactics with the residents. She also is an instructor at the GWU’s Psy.D. Program.  She serves as an instructor for the evidence based practice course, which instructs on CBT methods.  She also is on the OCD Mid-Atlantic Board, regularly attends the IOCDF’s conferences, as well as completed the IOCDF’s BTTI training.