CM Advising & Advocacy Team

Founder and Chief Advisor of CM/A+A, Claire Middlebrooks, is a Georgia native and graduate of Middle Georgia State University obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with emphasis in human development, child and adolescent psychology, criminal psychology, and sociology. Claire has over 12 years of extensive background and education in the human sciences field with experience working alongside and in tandem with multidisciplinary treatment teams, in acute crisis stabilization units, long-term residential treatment, the juvenile court system, public and private education systems, outpatient counseling services, and case management. 

She serves as an independent advisor, mentor, and advocate to children and adolescents and has honed her mediation skills working as a liaison in schools and the Department of Juvenile Justice. She established a mentorship program for high school students, formed and led LGBTQ support and safety groups for at-risk youth who identify as LGBTQ, and has served in public speaking roles educating on topics to benefit youth and women. Although Claire has worked with a wide variety of clients and community members, she is particularly passionate and effective in working with teenage girls 12-17 years of age. 

Throughout her time working in the field, Claire has witnessed a pattern of mental health resource suffering, lack of training and empathy, and several instances of injustice, mistreatment, abuse, and neglect toward institutionalized children and adolescents. As a compassionate yet assertive advocate, Claire has successfully held institutions accountable, utilizing her education and training in industrial organizational psychology to introduce accountability and sensitivity training, build rapport between employees, and restructure supervisor office locations and involvement with outcomes such as increased client safety and healthier working environments.

For six years Claire served in a leadership role for an American LGBTQ advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign. She learned more about the community's challenges and triumphs and executed ways to solve them nationally, locally, and personally. As a member of the Steering Committee, Claire was recognized on a national level for her contributions to the Human Rights Campaign and efforts towards equality. Through experience working with some of our most vulnerable yet promising members of society, such as at-risk youth and LGBTQ youth members, Claire recognizes a passion and immediate need for creating a safe and growing space for LGBTQ youth. 

Claire is Relias training certified and accomplished in programs such as HELP (Human Empowerment Leadership Principles), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) training, NCI (Nonviolent Crisis Intervention), suicide prevention through SPRC, and cultural competency. She is a certified substitute teacher with thorough classroom management strategy and de-escalation techniques, and regularly completes additional training and continuing education opportunities. 

Aside from her passion for increased mental health community resources and advocacy, she enjoys her loved ones, pets, nature walks, writing, traveling, handwritten letters, music, and Bravo TV.