Deva Joy Gouss, LCSW

Deva Joy Gouss is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and psychotherapist in Atlanta, Georgia, who has been in private practice for more than 35 years. Through her practice, Healing Heart Communications, she offers individual and couples therapy, experiential psychomotor therapy, and preparation and integration for ketamine-assisted and other psychedelic sessions.

Approach

Gouss is certified in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), Accelerated Resolution Therapy and TRM, a trauma resiliency method, and also lists EMDR among her trainings. She pairs close listening with active feedback and practical tools, and helps clients notice body sensations and allow feelings as a way of working through trauma. She runs four psychomotor groups and a monthly heart gathering, has led monthly workshops for more than twenty years, and holds couples retreats with her husband, a psychologist. The Marrying Yourself Journey, a year-long guided process that ends in self-marriage, is also available as an online course.

Who it is for

She says she works best with people who are ready to engage fully, whatever they bring: relationship problems, grief, sexuality and identity, depression, anxiety, health issues or midlife transitions.

Practical details

Sessions cost $150 to $200, in person in Atlanta or online, though she prefers to meet in person where possible.

Care and safety

Work starts with an intake questionnaire. For a KAP session she refers clients to a psychiatrist she works with, who assesses medical eligibility, and there are consent forms and a conversation to check that expectations are realistic and support is in place. Preparation clarifies the reasons and intentions for a session, and integration sessions follow it.