Amanda Aldridge
Bowdon,GA
Summary
I am a retired special education teacher and administrator specializing in autism, learning disabilities, behavior modification and severe emotional and behavioral disorders. I have also worked with families in parenting and conflict resolution to include safety plans, and family and individual plans for the person and/or family to come to a better state of living instead of crisis mode on a continual basis. I recently finished my internship as a clinical mental health counselor as well and will be taking the test for my APC license in Georgia. I have worked with ages 4 to 81. I have diagnosed and built treatment plans for the individuals as well as safety plans. I am experienced in crisis situations and de-escalation as well as several modalities to include EBT, DBT, and Talk Therapy. I have spent my entire career of over 39 years working with individuals who struggled with mental illness, intrusive thoughts and self-harm or harm to others.
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Counseling Intern
Transformations Counseling
01.2021 - 06.2024
- Worked with clients with emotional and behavioral issues as diagnosed in the DSM-5
- I was able to work from ages 4 to 81 and build safety plans, treatment plans and worked individually where the person was and successfully helped them to meet their goals
- My caseload consisted of 55-70 clients per week and I was able to help over 50% successfully complete their treatment goals
- In addition, I wrote and submitted insurance information that was approved for the individuals to receive units to be seen in a therapeutic session
- Clients worked on coping skills and addressing trauma, grief, ADHD, anxiety and depression to name a few
Care Coordinator
Bridge Health
07.2018 - 05.2022
- Care coordination working with families to develop care plans for the entire family to grow and improve overall relationships within the family unit
- I worked with a caseload of 10-15 families and helped developed family action plans and safety plans
- I successfully was able to graduate over 80% of clients and would receive more referrals why graduating and transitioning these families
- I also submitted insurance authorization requests that were approved for me to receive units to see the families
Area Administrator
Northwest Georgia Educational and therapeutic support
07.2001 - 06.2018
- Supervised classrooms and teachers that served emotionally disturbed and behavioral disordered students in self-contained settings
- In this position I trained others in conflict resolution, Mindset training and worked individually with students ranging from age 5-20, de-escalating them when they became upset, both verbally and physically aggressive
- I also worked with those that were autistic in learning the skills needed to avoid overstimulation and using coping skills
- I was responsible for the management in of four programs in four counties and administrator for teachers and paraprofessionals
- I also worked collaboratively with outside stakeholders
Special Education Teacher
Bremen City Schools
08.1997 - 05.2001
- Resource teacher/ elementary
- As a resource teacher, I worked with all types is special education disabilities as well as wrote IEP's, data collection and teaching behavior modification
- I was also the lead special education teacher and did all scheduling of the students to classes and assigning them to special education teachers
Private Tutoring
Privately contracted
08.1993 - 06.1997
- I individually tutored students in K-5 who were struggling with reading and ELA
- My client base consisted of around 20 students per week
Special Education Teacher
Carroll County Public Schools
08.1989 - 06.1997
- Self-contained special education teacher for severely emotionally disturbed students k-5
- I worked with the highest level of students who were emotionally disturbed to teach not only academics but CBT and behavioral skills including coping skills and identifying emotions and what drove their behaviors
- I also wrote IEP's, interpreted psychological testing to families as well as held criteria determination meetings
- I also tutored elementary students after school 4 days per week
Education
Additional coursework - Clinical Psychology
University of West Alabama
Livingston, AL12.2022
Educational Specialist - Educational Administration
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, AL07.2007
Doctorate degree with ABD - Administration
Nova Southeastern University
Jacksonville, FL07.2002
Master's degree - Behavior disorders
University of West Georgia
Carrollton, GA07.1993
Bachelor's degree - Early Childhood Education with an add on in learning disabilities
University of West Georgia
Carrollton, GA07.1990
Skills
- Conflict management
- Special Education
- Individual / Group Counseling
- Mental Health Counseling
- Autism Experience
- Behavioral Therapy
- Tutoring
- Crisis Intervention
- Developmental Disabilities Experience
- Classroom Management
- Teaching
- Case Management
- Learning disabilities
- Reading
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Clinical Counseling
- Experience working with students
- Organizational skills
- Presentation Skills
- Child & Family Counseling
- Motivational Interviewing
Certification
- Special Education Certification
- Teaching Certification
Personal Information
Authorized To Work: US
Timeline
Counseling Intern
Transformations Counseling
01.2021 - 06.2024
Care Coordinator
Bridge Health
07.2018 - 05.2022
Area Administrator
Northwest Georgia Educational and therapeutic support
07.2001 - 06.2018
Special Education Teacher
Bremen City Schools
08.1997 - 05.2001
Private Tutoring
Privately contracted
08.1993 - 06.1997
Special Education Teacher
Carroll County Public Schools
08.1989 - 06.1997
Additional coursework - Clinical Psychology
University of West Alabama
Educational Specialist - Educational Administration
Jacksonville State University
Doctorate degree with ABD - Administration
Nova Southeastern University
Master's degree - Behavior disorders
University of West Georgia
Bachelor's degree - Early Childhood Education with an add on in learning disabilities
University of West Georgia