Polly Hart LCSW, BCD

Polly Hart, LCSW, BCD received her B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, followed by an M.S.W. from Tulane in New Orleans.  She started her career at a large community mental health center in New Orleans and then moved to Atlanta in 1972 where she spent the next 7 years at Georgia Mental Health Institute, working on both the child and adolescent units, serving 3 years as Director of the Briarcliff Children’s Center at that facility.  She was field supervisor for students from UGA, Smith College, and Atlanta University.

The past 30 years she has practiced with the Atlanta Area Family Psychiatry Clinic specializing in work with adults, couples, parents, & children from elementary school through college age addressing behavior, school performance, and emotional difficulties. She has recently begun a small practice in Cumming. About one half of her practice is with adults, particularly work with women and couples. During these years she has also provided consultation and faculty education for several private schools in the North Atlanta community.  She has worked at the State Legislature in the area of social policy, taught at a graduate college level, and has always provided supervision to beginning practitioners.

Polly’s professional avocation is the study of human behavior from disciplines such as anthropology, primatology, and behavioral biology.  These viewpoints enhance understanding beyond the usual psychological understandings of human dilemmas.

Her personal interests include antiqueing, reading, writing, all things Green and many things Japanese.  Polly and her husband Will, also a therapist, have raised three children, now adults.  This experience certainly increased empathy for & understanding of both parents and children and added a good bit of humor and perspective.  She appreciates participating in a practice where colleagues help support life-long learning and in her practice emphasizes the role of education in problem solving.

She maintains two professional designations:  LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker conferred by the State of Georgia and BCD, Board Certified Diplomate conferred by the American Board of Examiners of Clinical Social Workers.

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Will Hart M.Div., LCSW

A licensed therapist with the Atlanta Area Family Psychiatry Clinic since 1986, Will holds a B.A. from Wheaton College, a Master of Divinity from Columbia Seminary, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia.  He also pursued Ph.D. course work at Emory University in religion.

Past experiences include teaching Old and New Testament studies at Columbia Seminary, working in the Juvenile Justice System, establishing a child and adolescent program in the seven-county area south of Atlanta, and directing child and adolescent programs for DeKalb County Mental Health.  Will is past president of the Georgia Council on Child Abuse, Inc. (now Prevent Child Abuse Georgia) and is a member of the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work and the Red Cross National Disaster Response Team.  In the latter capacity, Will has provided mental health service for floods, tornadoes, school and office shootings, and the Olympic Park bombing.

Will likes a varied practice, both age-wise and dealing with a broad range of presenting problems. Family and child issues are a specialty in addition to competency in mood, anxiety, and behavioral disorder treatment.  His style is directive, active and goal-oriented.

In addition to clinical knowledge, Will believes life experience is an important aspect of joining with, understanding, and helping others.  He has lived in Florida, Illinois, and Georgia, has been a championship sailor, a competitive rower, has restored an antique powerboat and built his house.  He plays the fiddle, pursues artistic interests,  reads science and history, and has enjoyed trips to the National Parks of the West.

Since moving to Atlanta he saw Hank Aaron break the home run record, marched in Martin Luther King’s funeral procession, and rowed the 26 mile length of Lake Lanier.

He and his wife Polly, also a therapist, raised 3 children now scattered from California to the East Coast.