An expert in mindfulness, Pamela G. Cappetta, EdD, LPC, LMFT, has been teaching the subject for 25 years She became involved in her profession because she came from a very dysfunctional, abusive background, where she didn’t talk about what was going on in the home. It was a time when you pretended everything was fine. Thus, Dr. Cappetta went into the counseling profession only seeing children and wanting to help them to build healthy relationships. It started with wanting the children to have a safe place to talk about what was going on at home. In addition, she is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and started out as a family therapist specializing in children. As time went by, she realized the parents needed just as much counseling as the children, so she moved into marriage and family therapy.
Currently working in a private practice out of Williamsburg, Virginia, since 1995, Dr. Cappetta also serves the Williamsburg Place & Farley Center as an allied health professor since 1994. She began her professional career as a social worker at York-Poquoson Social Services in Grafton, Virginia, in 1981, remaining in this role for three years before coordinating the PACES Family Counseling Center at the College of William & Mary from 1984 to 1987. During this time, she also served as a family therapist at the TMJ Research Center of the School of Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine from 1984 to 1988 and a clinical associate at the Family Living Institute from 1985 to 1988, also co-owning the institute for six years and serving as a counselor for nine years. She then moved up the ranks at VCU as a clinical assistant professor from 1990 to 1994, and served as a medical family therapist at Norge Family Practice from 1992 to 1994 and wellness expert at RheumatoidArthritis.com from 2013 to 2015. In addition to this tenure, Dr. Cappetta was also the director-coordinator of Transitions in Williamsburg from 1992 to 1994, a faculty member at Asheville Body-Mind Clinic from 1999 to 2003 and a holotropic breathwork practitioner in Williamsburg from 1996 to 2015.
Prior to the start of her career, Dr. Cappetta pursued a formal education at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1971. She then attended the College of William & Mary, where she attained a Master of Education in 1980 and an EdD in 1990. Additionally, Dr. Cappetta is a licensed professional counselor and marriage and family therapist in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her mentors along the way of her success were Dr. Stanislav Grof and Dr. Daniel Laskin, whom she worked with.
Active in her local community, Dr. Cappetta volunteered with the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation in Williamsburg from 1995 to 2003 and served on the board of directors of the Virginia Cancer Pain Initiative in Richmond in 1996. She has further contributed myriad articles to professional journals. Outside of her primary trade, Dr. Cappetta maintains involvement with numerous organizations related to her field including the American Academy of Pain Management, the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc., and the EMDR International Association.
Dr. Cappetta feels that sometimes what she is doing is re-parenting those who came from very dysfunctional backgrounds, giving them unconditional love. It is like helping them to have a corrective experience as one to help them grow. A recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Cappetta is listed in several editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, and Who’s Who in the World.