About Madison Ledgerwood, LCMHCA, LCASA

A woman with red hair and tattoos taking a selfie outdoors with her dog in a wooded area.

My story

I was raised by my grandparents in the high mountain desert of the Southwest. Growing up with extended family sparked an early curiosity about how the people around us, and the ones who came before us, shape who we become.

As the daughter of parents impacted by addiction, I understand firsthand how pain and healing move through our lineage, and I've come to believe that creating new patterns, in ourselves and our relationships, is both possible and transformative.

I believe the people drawn to live for something larger than themselves are also often asked to meet life's hardest thresholds: grief, trauma, illness, rupture, doubt. My own journey has included complex trauma, chronic illness, strained family dynamics, and the deep grief of losing people I love. I know that pain and trauma are survivable, and that they can reshape us into someone more capable of the life we're being called toward, not less.

Today, it is an honor to support others as they move through their own thresholds of loss, trauma, disconnection, and longing. Outside of work, you'll find me backpacking, hiking, gardening, and spending time in the mountains with my friends, dogs, and partner.

Lineage, Training and Foundation

Four women standing by a lake, smiling and enjoying each other's company on a cloudy day, with trees in the background.

Academic and Clinical Training

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Master of Arts in Sustainable Communities, where I studied what calls people toward a life of meaning and contribution to justice, what propels and sustains that dedication, and what gets passed forward to the generations that follow.

Before becoming a therapist, I worked in colleges, as a community organizer, and as a wilderness guide, supporting people through life transitions as companion and teacher. That path, along with years of study and clinical practice, led me to work rooted in somatic therapy, depth psychology, grief tending, and eco-therapy.

Clinical Therapy Practice — Former individual, couples, and family therapist in a dual-diagnosis addiction recovery setting, specializing in trauma-informed, emotionally focused therapy, experiential, and wilderness-based approaches.

Specialized training

  • Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT)

  • Trauma-informed grief work

  • Somatic Experiencing

  • Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist Associate (LCASA)

  • Eco-therapy

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Rites of Passage and Eco-therapy Training

I’ve received extensive training from some incredible people and organizations since 2016:

I’m also a founding member of Remembering Earth, a collective dedicated to rites of passage and eco-depth psychology approaches in Western North Carolina. Where I co-lead:

  • Wilderness Programs - Multi-day immersive programing linked to grief, death, meaning, and soul

  • Multi-week Programs — Facilitating multi-week nature based grief programs, dreamwork, women's circles, and programs on death and dying

A scenic view of a mountain range with clouds overhead and a bird flying in the sky.

My foundations

Before my ancestors settled in North America, they practiced Celtic, Germanic, and Jewish traditions. While my family first settled in the region now known as North Carolina, I was raised in the high desert of Arizona where I lived for 30 years. I now live and practice in the mountains of Western North Carolina, on the traditional, unceded homelands of the Cherokee.

My previous work was as a community organizer in social and environmental justice movements, which also informs the visionary lineages I consider myself a part of. I am deeply informed by:

  • Queer Theory & Feminist Thought

  • Eco-Psychology & Earth-Based Rites

  • Grief, Animism, & Death Work

Some of the voices that guide my practice:

Bayo Akomolafe · Joanna Macy · adrienne maree brown · Robin Wall Kimmerer · Meredith Little · Steven Foster · Silvia Federici · Sharon Blackie · Mary Oliver · Amanda Yates Garcia · Bill Plotkin · Carl Jung 

Connect

If this way of working resonates with you, I offer a free 15-minute consultation. I’d be honored to connect.

Reach out

Reflections

“Madison is a powerful, skilled, and inspiring being who has helped me rediscover my connection to land, sky, air, and water. Our time brought me healing and peace and gave me new tools and insight to work with. I can’t recommend her highly enough.” - Previous Client