Harvey D. Cottrell

10/31/2026

The graphic is AI-generated; the writing is mine. The original was published in 2024. This newer version is an affirmation I read daily that reflects how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has changed me as a practitioner, teacher, and human. “I make room for my emotions, including those that are painful or difficult, without allowing them to determine how I must live.” - Harvey Cottrell

10/28/2026

10/28/2026

Another Professional Milestone! 🎉

I am pleased to share that the South Carolina Board of Social Work Examiners has officially granted me licensure as a Licensed Independent Social Worker Clinical Practice (LISW-CP)!

The LISW-CP is South Carolina's independent clinical social work license, comparable to the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) designation used in many other states.

This credential authorizes qualified clinical social workers to practice independently within their professional scope, including providing psychotherapy, assessing and diagnosing mental health conditions, developing treatment plans, and delivering clinical interventions to individuals, couples, families, and groups.

Obtaining this license reflects the recognition of advanced graduate education, supervised clinical experience, professional examination requirements, and the standards necessary for independent clinical practice.

As the founder of Serenity Integrative Psychotherapy, I remain committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based, trauma-informed, and affirming mental health care.

Expanding my professional licensure across state lines is part of my ongoing commitment to making quality psychotherapy more accessible, particularly through telehealth, while maintaining the highest standards of ethical and professional practice.

I am grateful for the opportunity to keep growing professionally and serving individuals and families across communities.

South Carolina LISW-CP | License #19477

10/22/2026

🌿🌳 An Exciting New Chapter: Introducing Willow & Oak Integrative Psychotherapy!

I am excited to announce a new chapter in my professional journey: the formation of Willow & Oak Integrative Psychotherapy, a new group psychotherapy practice in New Jersey!

First, Serenity Integrative Psychotherapy will remain open and continue serving its patients. Willow & Oak expands my commitment to providing accessible, compassionate, trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health care.

Why Willow & Oak? 🌿🌳

The name reflects two qualities that I believe are essential to psychological well-being and meaningful personal growth.

🌿 The Willow represents flexibility, adaptability, and the capacity to bend without breaking. It reminds us that resilience isn't simply about enduring life's challenges, but about navigating change with openness, compassion, and self-understanding.

🌳 The Oak symbolizes strength, stability, rootedness, and endurance. It represents the importance of developing a secure foundation from which individuals can grow, establish meaningful relationships, and navigate life's complexities with greater confidence.

Together, the willow and oak reflect a central philosophy of my clinical work: Healing requires both the flexibility to change and the stability to remain grounded in who we are.

Our Vision for Willow & Oak

Willow & Oak Integrative Psychotherapy will be a collaborative group practice, bringing together licensed social workers committed to clinical excellence, ethical practice, inclusivity, and the dignity of every individual.

My hope is to create more than a place to provide psychotherapy. I envision a professional community that supports clinicians, challenges them to grow, encourages them to think critically, and empowers them to provide thoughtful, individualized care.

Our clinical philosophy will emphasize an integrative approach to psychotherapy, drawing upon contemporary research in trauma, attachment, relational development, emotional regulation, and evidence-based therapeutic interventions. We will remain committed to culturally responsive, LGBTQ+ affirming, person-centered care.

Looking Toward the Future

We are currently in the early stages of establishing Willow & Oak Integrative Psychotherapy, with plans to expand clinical services and begin recruiting social work professionals as our organizational infrastructure develops.

I am particularly looking forward to the new opportunities this venture will create for professional collaboration, clinical education, mentorship, and expanding access to quality mental health services.

Serenity Integrative Psychotherapy has provided me with an extraordinary opportunity to work with individuals navigating some of life's most complex experiences. Willow & Oak offers a chance to build on that foundation while investing in the next generation of clinical social workers.

I am grateful for the colleagues, mentors, patients, and community members who have been part of this journey, and I look forward to sharing more as this new practice takes shape.

Here's to new beginnings, deep roots, and the possibilities that emerge when we grow together. 🌿🌳

Willow & Oak Integrative Psychotherapy
Coming Soon! ( Watch this space for Announcements!)

09/20/2026

Some things cannot be fixed, controlled, or cured—not even by loving harder. Perhaps the work is learning what is ours to carry, what is ours to release, and what remains ours to do.

The Things We Cannot Cure: The Limits of Love and Control

A reflection on acceptance, suffering, ACT, the wisdom of recovery, and finding meaning without insisting there had to be a reason.

Harvey Cottrell, LCSW author of, “The Inner Room.”

07/31/2026

I am excited to announce that I am now fully licensed in the Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Credential ID LICSW1121630

07/24/2026

Happy to announce that I am expanding my practice once again. I am now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the great state of Oregon.

07/10/2026

There comes a point in every life when we are forced to confront a difficult truth:

We do not have control over other people.

Not over the ones we love.
Not over the ones we try to help.
Not over the ones we desperately wish would choose differently.

As a therapist, I have watched people heal in extraordinary ways. I have also watched people continue down paths that led to suffering despite every conversation, every recommendation, and every opportunity to choose another way.

As a son, I have watched addiction take someone I loved.

As a human being, I have learned that powerlessness is not failure—it is reality.

And strangely, accepting that reality has become one of the greatest sources of peace in my life.

When we stop trying to control what was never ours to control, we are finally free to give our attention to what has always belonged to us: our character, our response, our capacity to love, and our willingness to remain present.

The wonder of powerlessness is that it asks us to surrender the illusion of control without surrendering hope.

Because even when life feels uncertain, even when grief is close, even when the future is hidden...

there is still something beautiful unfolding.

— Harvey Cottrell, LCSW
*The Inner Room*

Harvey Cottrell, LCSW, Author of, "The Inner Room."