Hillary Ely is a licensed professional counselor (LPC 008539) with over ten years of experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Her passion is journeying with people on an individual basis in the midst of their pain and suffering to help offer encouragement, joy, and hope for their future. Her desire is to help people build healthier lifestyles and relationships. Hillary believes the counseling relationship can help people gain self-awareness and improve relational patterns.

Her areas of interest include depression, anxiety, trauma, bipolar disorder, Christian counseling, grief, boundaries, women's issues, and stress management. Hillary uses primarily person-centered and cognitive behavior therapy in session. This allows clients to feel heard and validated in their experiences while also helping them to look at their thought patterns and how those are impacting their life experiences. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps people to look at their distorted thinking and how it influences their feelings about given situations. It also challenges those negative thought patterns and encourages more rational thinking. The idea is that how people think impacts how they feel and behave, so changing their thinking can change how they feel and act.

Hillary has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia and a Masters in Professional Counseling from Richmont Graduate University, with a specialization in trauma. She is a professing Christian and loves to incorporate her faith and Scriptures into the counseling relationship when clients are open to and desire that. Hillary is happily married and she and her husband have three children.

Marcia Shearer is an Associate Professional Counselor (APC010556) who joined Hillary Ely Counseling in May 2025. She enjoys supporting adults and couples looking to experience relief from emotional or relational pain.  Understanding that we all naturally move away from pain, we sometimes discover that the strategies we are using to avoid it either aren't working or are causing even more distress. Marcia is honored to join clients at that point to co-create a more effective journey of self-discovery and growth.

Particular areas of interest for her include anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, high sensitivity, relationship issues, burnout, grief, church hurt, and Christian counseling. Marcia utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy to help relieve immediate distress, but her underlying approach is psychodynamic and interpersonal. Clients discover how unconscious patterns and early life experiences shape their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships, including the therapeutic relationship. The goals of this work are self-understanding and the development of deeply rooted internal resources that provide long-term change. 

Marcia has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University and a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Richmont Graduate University. She is a professing Christian and loves to incorporate faith into the counseling relationship when clients are open to and desire that. Marcia has been happily married for 40 years, has two adult children, and two grandchildren.