contentheading-icoPolly Hart LCSW, BCD

Polly HaPolly-Petsrt, 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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