Our Interns
Our interns are graduate students working with us to get the last experience they need before becoming official counselors. It’s just $10 per session to see one of them. We highly recommend their services! If you would like to see an intern, please contact the intern directly.
Erica Hightower - Open
Erica Hightower is a Columbia native currently completing her master's in Clinical Counseling at Liberty University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies (2016) and a Master's in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (2017) from Columbia International University.
Erica brings over ten years of experience working closely with clients in roles such as senior caregiving, office management, and community support. She has served cross-culturally through ministry work and by teaching English as a Second Language. Today, she partners with local nonprofits, works at a chiropractic office, and continues to invest in the well-being of her community.
Approach to Counseling
Erica's counseling approach is holistic and rooted in her Christian faith. She believes the Holy Spirit takes an active role in healing the whole person—mind, body, soul, and spirit. She does not impose her beliefs on clients and is committed to respecting each individual's personal values. Spirituality is included in counseling only when it aligns with the client's preferences.
Erica strives to create a welcoming, respectful space where clients feel heard, supported, and empowered. Using evidence-based therapeutic approaches tailored to each person's needs, she walks alongside clients as they move toward healing, hope, and meaningful change. Her passion is to see individuals reach their goals and step into greater freedom, purpose, and wellness.
Erica is truly honored for the opportunity to support you and serve you on your journey: ehightower.couseling@gmail.com or (803) 814-4489.
Kyra Ledwell - Full
Kyra Ledwell is a clinical counseling intern committed to holistic healing and community care based in Columbia and Kershaw County. She is currently earning her Master’s in Clinical Counseling at Columbia International University, where her training is rooted in a Christian worldview that integrates faith and evidence-based practices. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services with a minor in Intercultural Studies from CIU and became a certified Maternal Support Practitioner through BeboMia Inc. in 2024. With a heart for meeting people where they are, Kyra offers care that respects individual stories and cultural backgrounds. Kyra approaches counseling through a Christian holistic worldview, believing that true healing addresses the whole person, mind, body, and spirit.
Kyra offers compassionate, honest care rooted in the hope that meaningful change and healing are possible. Drawing from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS), her trauma-informed, eclectic approach allows her to adapt to each client’s needs with care and collaboration through a safe and respectful therapeutic relationship.
She sees counseling as sacred work, a space where God meets people in their pain and gently invites them into transformation. For Kyra, healing includes spiritual restoration, grace-filled truth, and a renewed understanding of one’s identity, worth, and purpose. Grounded in advocacy, coaching, mentorship, and her love for her family, husband, nieces, nephews, and godchildren, Kyra brings authenticity, empathy, and a deep belief in the power of healing into every space she enters.
Kyra works with women (18+), couples, and adolescents (13–17) facing challenges like depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and major life transitions. Her clinical focus includes women’s issues, birth trauma, perinatal mood disorders, abuse recovery, and relationship struggles.
She can be reached at KyraLedwell.Counseling@gmail.com.
Judith Rubinson - Open
Judith plans to graduate in May 2026 with her Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling from Columbia International University. Originally from Pennsylvania, she has been married for 41 years and is a mother of four adult children and a grandmother to two. As a certified personal trainer, she has been motivating older adults to achieve their health and wellness goals for the past 26 years in South Carolina. She has also spent a lifetime partnering with her husband in youth, retreat, and college ministries. Judith enjoys the outdoors, travel, quality time with family and friends, and pursuing holistic natural healthcare.
Judith has an eclectic and collaborative approach to counseling. She enjoys working with couples, families, and adults 18 years and older, and incorporates her Biblical worldview into the counseling process for clients who are interested. Judith offers both in-person and telehealth appointments for premarital and couples counseling, relationship issues, family problems, life transitions, grief and loss, spiritual issues, stress, anxiety, depression, and any other road bumps in your life that need processing. She desires to walk alongside others in their journey to heal, grow personally, and seek restoration with God and others.
She can be reached by texting or calling (803) 766-6322.