About Gina Barker
As owner and president of Turning Point Counseling and Consulting, LLC, I am familiar with and experienced in a variety of counseling areas. I am specifically trained in trauma counseling and addiction. Trauma specialist Bessel van der Kolk aptly described the effects of trauma as “being absent from your own life.” I am passionate about helping my clients “take their lives back,” become fully present, and skillfully navigate life’s challenges in constructive ways. I have been in private practice since March 2020. I have also served as a staff counselor at Coastal Samaritan Counseling Center, and I am a volunteer with the Grand Strand Crisis Intervention Network.
In addition to practicing counseling, I teach graduate-level counseling online at Liberty University. As educator and researcher with a Ph.D. in Communication, I have taught strategic and intercultural communication at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA and at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. I have had articles published in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Southern Communication Journal, Western Journal of Communication, International Communication Gazette, the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, the International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, the British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, and the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, in addition to several book chapters. Born and raised in Sweden, I also have significant international and multicultural experience.
Qualifications
Licensed Professional Counselor (SC)
Licensed Addiction Counselor (SC)
Ed.D. in Community Care and Counseling–Traumatology (Liberty University)
Trained Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Clinician (EMDR Consulting)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (International Association of Trauma Professionals)
Member of American Association of Christian Counselors