Second Nature Blue Ridge Welcomes Therapist: Greta Lutman!

Greta Lutman, M.A. LCAS  

Second Nature Blue Ridge

Adolescent Females - Primary Therapist

Prior Work Experience: 
Inpatient adult, adolescent substance abuse, psychiatric, and eating disorder treatment centers; Wilderness Therapist and Clinical Director of SUWS of the Carolinas; and extensive therapeutic boarding school experience, most notably at Carlbrook School as Assistant Clinical Director.

Areas of Expertise:

Greta works well with adolescents struggling with depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, addiction, identity problems, adoption issues, and individuation problems.  Taking a trauma-informed approach, she understands that many problems in adolescence are caused or exacerbated by unresolved grief and trauma.  Seeing the family as the "client," Greta enjoys helping parents become agents for change.

Strengths:

Greta's strengths center around her ability to know and understand the student and parents, helping each person feel safe and connected.  Utilizing relationship to understand the system from the inside, she assists each family member in taking responsibility, re-conceptualizing the "problem," and adjusting beliefs, feelings, and responses accordingly.

Interests: 

Viewing, collecting and occasionally making art; mid-century modern furniture and decorative arts, experiencing exotic ethnic cuisines, jumping on her trampoline, spending time at galleries and studios with her husband David, and exploring Asheville, where she lives. 

Bio:

Greta graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology in 1988, and a Masters from Appalachian State University in Agency Counseling in 1992 with specializations in Substance Abuse Counseling and Marriage and Family Counseling. She is a Licensed Addictions Specialist.

After several years of working in in-patient substance abuse and eating disorder units, Greta discovered wilderness therapy and believes it to be a most effective setting for adolescents and their families to begin the change process.  She was fortunate to have worked for three years at Carlbrook School, where she enjoyed the relationships that a longer-term intervention afforded.

As a clinician, Greta attempts to focus all of her attention on understanding the person she is sitting with (no matter age, gender, role or what their struggles may be) and on her own experience of that person.  Her goal is to understand the function of each person's behaviors and beliefs in a system, how all members relate, and how adjusting the structure of a system can bring relief, change, and growth.

 

Greta's strong emphasis on assisting clients in "re-envisioning" their difficulties by guiding them towards the awareness of their inner landscape through Gestalt work, guided imagery, timeline work, and other highly personal and metaphoric work.  In this way, the client becomes his or her own best resource for healing.