Get to Know Sam Hollis-White, MA (She|Her)

Sam smiling

Doctoral Intern

Hi! My name is Sam Hollis-White, and I am a doctoral intern here at CAPS! My doctoral program is at Spalding University in Louisville, where I got my Master of Arts degree in 2022. I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and went to undergrad at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where I got my Bachelor of Science degree in 2017.

From a young age, I have been interested in understanding people and helping others tap into their inner strengths. I am passionate about providing a space for my clients where they can come as they are and feel safe, seen, and heard. I enjoy seeing all the puzzle pieces that make up each person, and figuring out how to piece together their strengths, personality traits, goals, and dimensions of lived experiences with therapeutic techniques to improve their lives.

I have experience working with individuals ranging from ages 12-73 with a variety of concerns relating to anxiety, depression, neurodivergence (Autism and ADHD), obsessive and compulsive thoughts and behaviors, systemic barriers, identity factors, emotional regulation, relationships issues (familial, platonic, and romantic), trauma.

My favorite movie about mental health and why: Definitely Everything Everywhere All at Once. I love the way it balances multiple perspectives of how we can feel stuck in life and different ways we respond to feeling stuck. Not to mention how the movie portrays repairing relationships healthily and how powerful that can be. Gets me in the feels every time.  

If I wasn’t in this line of work, I would be: Working somewhere in the tv/movie industry. Not an actress, probably a foley artist. They work in sound design and figure out how to make every day sounds from (sometimes strange) materials to add realism to a film or tv show (like the sound of footsteps walking on a hard floor).

Coping skills I recommend to clients that I actually use myself: Keeping the top 10 values from a values card in an easily accessible place to reference as needed. I keep my values on a piece of paper in my wallet. When I am struggling to make a difficult decision, or simply feeling out of place, I will pull out my values list and reflect on which values align with my options, or which values I need to lean into further to feel a bit more inner peace.