Book a therapist or psychiatrist in Alabama covered by Cigna

Starting therapy can feel like a big step, especially if you've been carrying anxiety, grief, relationship challenges, stress, or the effects of trauma on your own. You may be feeling overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, or unsure where to begin, and that's okay. I'm Ann Marie Nowak, a Licensed Professional Counselor with over six years of experience helping adults navigate life's most difficult moments with compassion, understanding, and practical support. I entered the field of Counseling later in life, returning to school at age 50. I have learned about life through the many experiences and challenges that came my way.

My background has allowed me to work with individuals facing a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship concerns, stress management, and end of life issues. I believe every person's story is unique, and I'm committed to meeting you where you are while honoring your strengths and experiences. I am able to work with mature clients, since I can well relate to the experiences and challenges that come about in our later years.

I am a Clinical Social Worker providing tele-health psychotherapy to adolescents, adults, and seniors across Alabama and Florida. My goal is to provide the evidence-based treatment, education, and encouragement necessary for you to achieve a more purposeful and fulfilling life.

I highly value relationships, influenced by my own cultural background. Distress that you experience, whether expressed in bodily pain or mental pain, may have roots in the hurt from your past and current relationships. This relationship could be person to person but also person to society and person to culture you are in. Distress from cultural and societal factors is also my focal interest and multicultural sensitivity and awareness is also how I approach counseling. Thus, my practice is based on interpersonal psychotherapy with a multicultural lens. Specific interests in my practice includes understanding what and how cultural factors (e.g., expectations, values) may influence client’s distress and somatic expressions of distress. I am also skilled in other approaches (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, emotion-focused therapy) and thus can meet clients’ needs accordingly.

Sharmen Rutherford is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Mental Health Service Provider, Internationally Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Ketamine Integration Therapist. She is currently accruing hours to earn her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist credential through the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals and has completed Vital’s Psychedelics Assisted Psychotherapy and Ketamine Integration Therapy Program.

With more than 17 years of professional clinical experience in the counseling field, Sharmen has helped clients facing addiction and substance use disorders, anxiety, co-occurring disorders, depression, eating disorders, trauma, PTSD, self-harm, school pressures, relationship issues, loss and grief. It is her passion to provide college students, young adults, women, and men with the tools and resources that they need to cope and make a better life for themselves.

Sharmen holds a Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling from Liberty University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Alabama. She has provided mental health services to adolescents and adults for numerous local mental health organizations, including an alternative school, the Alabama Department of Mental Health at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, two residential substance abuse treatment facilities, and a halfway house.

Sharmen is a former Advisory Board member and a Board of Directors member for 3 years for the Alabama School of Alcohol and other Drug Studies. She is also a former Board of Directors Hospitality Chair and Secretary of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals for the Alabama Chapter.

Launched in June 2018, Sharmen is also the founder of All Things New Counseling Services, LLC located in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Thank you for taking this step of therapy. I am here to support you in your journey to healing. I'd like to support you with managing individual and Family concerns. We will utilize healthier coping skills, problem-solving techniques, decision-making tools and individualized effective techniques that serves your unique goals for therapy. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Sometimes life feels heavier than it looks on the outside. You may be carrying anxiety that never seems to quiet down, grieving someone you love, trying to hold a relationship together, or simply wondering why you don't feel like yourself anymore. Whatever brought you here, you don't have to pretend you're okay with me. My hope is that therapy becomes a place where you can finally exhale, make sense of what you're experiencing, and begin finding steady ground again.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Doctorate in Social Work, and I bring both clinical expertise and real life understanding into the therapy space. My professional background includes years of direct clinical practice as well as leadership roles in complex, high stress systems, including serving as a Mental Health Director. These experiences have shaped my ability to support individuals who are navigating pressure, responsibility, and emotional overwhelm while still being expected to function at a high level.

I work best with clients who are strong on the outside but struggling internally. Many of the people I support are women, mothers, professionals, caregivers, and helpers who are used to showing up for others while neglecting their own emotional needs. I have a particular passion for working with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome, burnout, life transitions, relationship stress, identity concerns, and trauma related to past or ongoing stressors.

Therapy with me is not about having all the answers. It is about learning how to trust yourself, set healthy boundaries, and show up for your life with more compassion and confidence.