Meet Therapist Fred Edell, LCPC

Therapists, like most professionals, come from a variety of backgrounds. They all have one thing in common though, the desire to help others struggling with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges. Fred Edell, licensed clinical professional counselor, practicing at our North Village outpatient office has a particularly interesting background of varied experiences.

Fred started his undergraduate study with an interest in medicine. After a perpetual struggle with math and Pre-Med programs and a curiosity about what he refers to as his “own pathology” he changed course and pursued a Master’s Degree in counselling psychology at Loyola University. He has over 34 years of experience working within Maryland’s Public Mental Health System where he fulfilled a variety of roles, including direct care provider in habilitation services and psychiatric rehabilitative settings, case management, program administration (at the coordinator and director levels), agency training and as a licensed clinical professional counselor beginning in 1999.

In 2005, Fred graduated with a Master’s Degree in Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary. He has incorporated his theological training and experience in working within a community of faith in his clinical practice. This background provides him the ability to work with clients to help them tap into their unique faith expression, and incorporate it as a resource for healing. He continues to evolve as a mental health practitioner by integrating psychological and theological training to promote social justice, healing and growth in individuals, families and communities. He is actively involved in a community of faith that finds God everywhere in the world.

Fred’s clinical areas of interest and practice include Serious and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI), Trauma, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, Behavioral Problems with Children, Adolescents and Teens and OCD in individual, family and group contexts. He is an Approved Supervisor by the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and is currently providing weekly clinical supervision to three Licensed Clinical Graduate Counselors (LGPC) seeking to fulfil the requirement to become Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC).

In the fall of 2013, Fred joined Brook Lane as an outpatient psychotherapist treating individual clients ages five to 65 and families with a variety of mental health challenges. He counsels between 35 and 40 clients per week. As a Certified Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) practitioner, Fred concentrates a large part of his practice working with children, adolescents and adults using the TF-CBT model. Fred feels that it is a privilege to partner with clients in their healing journey and witness them grow and transform. He continues to learn and evolve as well as a practitioner in this science-informed art.

Fred grew up the northwest suburbs of Baltimore, working in his father’s pharmacy in the inner city. He describes himself as a provincial creature who is content. He loves being a Baltimore boy/Marylander who appreciates the Chesapeake Bay, our rolling countryside and beautiful mountains. He and his wife Christine, a therapist with Brook Lane, live in a historic house built in 1929 near City Park in Hagerstown. Fred enjoys being a father to Jessica, father-in-law to Eric and Zayde (Yiddish for grandfather) to Oliver. Fred and Christine are pet lovers and share their home with four dogs and three cats.

Fred enjoys singing and playing musical instruments. He appreciates the work of JRR Toklien, an English writer, poet, philologist, and academic, best known as the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Fred describes himself as a “gourmand” (a person who enjoys eating and often eats too much) always in search of the best Chinese Food and other culinary delights.