April M. Jackson-James, Ph.D.

Psychologist and Supervisor, Metamorphosis

Dr. April, is a highly skilled, licensed psychologist with a passion for God, family, and family therapy.

Dr. April supervises a staff of Psychologists, Professional Counselors, Registered Counseling Interns, and Master’s Level Practicum and Internship Students. She sees her role as helping each counselor to provide a wide array of counseling, educational testing, and behavioral assessment within a calming, holistic approach to integrating mind, body, and spirit. She takes the responsibility of training new counselors and psychologists very seriously, as she sets out to help trainees grow as practitioners and people.

Dr. April is not just a supervisor, but a treating psychologist as well. She carries a full case load while supervising and running the Metamorphosis business. In her role as psychologist, Dr. April believes that it is her life’s call to help families sort through both serious diagnoses and the nagging problems of life.

Dr. April is also the dedicated wife of Mr. Michael L. James (who does all insurance billing for the private practice), and she is the proud mother of two high school-aged daughters: Carlisle, who plays high school basketball, and Ashleigh, who is a Thespian and a student in an International Baccalaureate program.

When you come to Metamorphosis,
you become a part of our family.

A personal message from Dr. April Jackson-James:

When you become a part of the Metamorphosis family, we are all fully committed to helping you to feel better, do better, and be better.
I started my career working with troubled adolescents, one of the tenets of the model I trained in was do “Whatever it Takes.” Today, I continue to carry this level of commitment and determination into the work that I do, and the work of those that I supervise at Metamorphosis.
In another stage of life, I founded and served as the Executive Director of North Carolina’s Dominion Ministries, Inc. (1998-2008). Dominion Ministries, Inc. focused on a spiritually based, holistic approach to solving the problems of life. When needed, I still work with individuals and families on their spiritual healing as well as their mental and emotional healing. I see you as a whole person not just someone with a set of problems or symptoms.
I understand that when your children are failing in school, you cannot sleep, and getting less sleep makes you grouchy with your husband and short tempered with your co-workers. I understand that if your boss reprimands you at work for your temper and you make a poor financial decision because you are not speaking, and therefore cannot consult with your husband, then you may not have the energy to go to church on Sunday, and that you therefore lose the supportive network of people who usually encourage you from week to week. And, the longer this cycle continues, the further disconnected from family, friends, and God you begin to feel.
This is why I refuse to just teach you how to get better sleep or just help your child focus more in class. I see my job as helping you to recognize the interconnectedness of your struggles, and then to one by one help you repair the breach in every area of your life. This is what all Metamorphosis counselors are taught and supported to do in therapy with you.
At Metamorphosis, we believe that it is our job to work ourselves out of a job with you. With that in mind, we set out to help our patients feel better, change their painful thoughts, improve their sabotaging behaviors, and develop more satisfying and supportive relationships.

Call us today and set out to Make Life Better on Purpose

Education

  • Ph.D., Temple University, Counseling Psychology
  • Post-graduate University of Miami, School of Medicine.
  • M.A. Degree, Kent State University, Clinical Psychology
  • B.A. Degree, University of Delaware, Psychology

Notable Presentations and Appearances throughout the years include:

June 2017 Emotional Difficulties and Mental Illness, Removing the Stigma: A Radio Interview with Juanita S. Farrow, The Common Good. WJDY FM 99.1 Atlanta, GA (Aired August 8, 2017, 4pm).

May 2017 I am Not Fine: A Radio Interview with Dr. Judith Fletcher, JEWEL’s Unveiled. WJDY FM 99.1 Atlanta, GA (Aired May 31, 2017).

May 2017 Healing from Trauma: The Soul Keeps Score. A presentation on the Mind-Body-Spirit effects of trauma and how to heal. New Dawn Ministries International, Wilmington, DE.

April 2015 Black Families and Psychology: Baby, We Don’t Have Time to
be Depressed.
A Workshop presented at a Jack & Jill of Tampa, FL, a parenting event for mothers to teach about the signs and symptoms of depression in Black families.

August 2014 Optimism: A Workplace Intervention to address Change.
Cigna Health Care EAP Corporate Presentation to Address Change in Corporate
Culture and the Importance of Attitude. Tampa, FL.

April 2014. Grieving Together: A Community of Faith. Full Day Workshop
Presentation for the General Congregation of Universal Truth Center after the death of
their founding Pastor. Miramar, FL.

April 2014 Ministering In and Through Grief. Half Day Workshop
Presentation for the Ministerial Staff at Universal Truth Center after the death of their
founding Pastor. Miramar, FL.

May 2013 Helping Families Prevent Delinquency. Workshop for Clinicians and Case Managers at AMIKids in Tampa, FL.

October 2009 Re-stacking the deck: An Evidenced-Based, Family
Treatment System for Adolescent Drug Abuse and Delinquency.
Evidenced-Based
Treatments for Addiction: A Conference for Clinicians; Pittsburgh, PA. Northeast
Addiction Technology Transfer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

October 2009 Doing what it takes: Helping Families through
Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT). Evidenced-Based Treatments for Addiction:
A Conference for Clinicians; Pittsburgh, PA. Northeast Addiction Technology Transfer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

June 2007-June 2008 Multidimensional Family Therapy Learning Community. Monthly training for Masters level clinicians through Orange, Person, Chatham County Local Management Entity in Western North Carolina.

July 2008 Therapy Interventions with Gang Involved Youth. Full day presentation. Southern Regional AHEC-Robeson County.

June 2008 Building Alliances in an Evidenced-Based Way; Evidenced-Based Assessment and Intervention for Adolescent Substance Abusers; EBT Models, Engagement and Ongoing Assessment. Addiction Training Institute. Full Day Presentations and Key Note. Morgantown, WV; West Virginia University, School of Medicine.

April 2008 The Etiology of Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Full Day
presentation. Southern Regional AHEC-Fayetteville.

September 2006, May 2008, October 2008 XX: Girls and Gangs, Not just the Obvious. Full Day Presentation. Charlotte, AHEC; Asheville Mountain AHEC; Winston-Salem, NW AHEC.

May 2007 Introduction to Multidimensional Family Therapy. Full Day presentation. Southern Regional AHEC-Fayetteville

July 2006 and September 2007 Evidenced-Based Treatment for Adolescent Substance Abuse and other Problem Behaviors. Northwest AHEC. Winston-Salem, NC. Full Day Presentation.

October 2005 and March 2006 Engaging Difficult Adolescents into Treatment. Southern Regional AHEC-Fayetteville half-day presentation.

October 2007 Multidimensional Family Therapy. Full day presentation. Western Carolina Symposium for the Counseling Profession. Sylva, NC.

December 1997. The Relationship of Cultural Theme Discussion to Engagement with Acting Out African American Adolescents in Family Therapy. Paper presented at the North American Society for Psychotherapy Research. Tucson, Arizona. (Jackson-Gilfort, A., Liddle, H.A., & Dakof, G.)

May 1997 Therapeutic Groups with Resistant/Acting Out Adolescents. Workshop conducted for meeting of Linking Forces: A Children’s Mental Health Conference for Mental Health Agencies, Schools, and Parents. Miami, FL. (Doyne, S. & Jackson, A. M.)

1997 Invited talk: Role of cultural themes and engagement. Presented at the APA Midwinter Meeting (Divisions 42,43, and 29), St. Petersburg, FL. (Liddle, H. A., Jackson, A., Diamond, G. S.)

February 1997 The Relationship of Cultural Theme Discussion to Engagement with Acting Out, African American Male Adolescents in Family Therapy. Workshop Conducted for Division of Psychology staff at University of Miami School of Medicine.

November 1996 Family Therapy with Substance Abusing Adolescents: Process and outcome studies. Poster presented at the Department of Psychiatry Scientific Poster Session, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL. (Liddle, H., Dakof, G., Jackson, A., Rowe, C., & Diamond, G.)

July 1995 Mentoring Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Violence. Poster presented at APA Division 27 conference (Society for Community Research and Social Action) Biennial Conference. Chicago, IL. (Jackson, A. & Corbett, C.)

May 1995 The Interaction Between Drugs and Violence in Adolescent Populations. Workshop conducted for the Center for Social Policy and Community Research. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

March 1995 Co-victimization and African American Adolescents. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, IN. (Jackson, A. & Neal, A.)

February 1994 Counseling the Culturally Different. Workshop conducted for the Delaware Counselor’s Professional Association. Delaware Technical and Community College; Stanton, DE.

November 1993 Co-victimization and Anxiety in African American Adolescents. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Atlanta, GA. (Jackson, A. & Neal, A.)

April M. Jackson-James Bio Timelime

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