ABOUT DR. MARCIA NORMAN
Experience matters.
So does feeling understood.
For more than 20 years, I've had the privilege of sitting with people during some of the most difficult, confusing, and important moments of their lives.
And if there is one thing those years have taught me, it is this:
There is always hope.
MY APPROACH
Therapy should feel like a conversation with someone who truly wants to understand you.
I approach people with curiosity rather than judgment.
I want to understand the why beneath what you do—the experiences that shaped you, the patterns you developed, the relationships that affected you, and the beliefs you may have carried for years without ever stopping to question them.
Often, the things we criticize most about ourselves make much more sense when we understand where they came from.
My style is warm, engaged, thoughtful, and direct. I'll ask questions. I'll offer observations. At times, I may gently challenge you to consider something differently.
And we will probably laugh sometimes, too.
"The goal isn't for me to tell you how to live your life. It's to help you understand yourself well enough that you can decide how you want to live it."
CURIOSITY INSTEAD OF JUDGMENT
What if the things you call mistakes could become wisdom?
I don't believe our lives are defined by our mistakes. The choices we wish we had made differently can become some of our greatest sources of wisdom—if we're willing to understand them and learn from them.
Rather than asking, 'What was wrong with me?' I'm much more interested in asking, 'Why did that make sense to me then? What can I understand about myself now? And what do I want to do differently going forward?'
"This is the first time each of us is doing this. We're all making it up as we go."
None of us has lived this particular life before. We don't get a rehearsal. We make choices with the understanding, resources, and experiences we have at the time—and then, if we're willing, we learn.
That is how experience becomes wisdom.
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Strong training. Broad clinical experience.
MAGNA CUM LAUDE
Rollins College
PSYCHOLOGY + PHILOSOPHY
Dual Undergraduate Degrees
MASTER'S + DOCTORAL
Florida Institute of Technology
20+ YEARS
Private Practice
Dr. Norman graduated magna cum laude from Rollins College, earning degrees in both Psychology and Philosophy. She went on to earn a master's degree and doctoral degree in psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology and has received numerous academic and research awards.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist · State of Florida · PY7907
WHY EXPERIENCE MATTERS
Very little about human experience surprises me.
My clinical work has taken me into many different settings and into the lives of people facing very different circumstances.
My experience has included work in a Baker Act receiving facility, counseling adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system, treating adults in an inpatient substance-use facility, working with members of branches of the U.S. military, and counseling women living in domestic violence shelters.
I have also been twice invited to speak at the Symposium for Personal Development, held at the Harvard Faculty Club.
Those experiences reinforced something I still believe deeply today: there is rarely one simple explanation for why a person feels the way she feels or does the things she does.
No textbook can tell me who you are
That is something we discover together.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM ME
I won't simply sit quietly while you do all the work.
- I will listen carefully.
- I will ask questions.
- I will tell you what I see.
- I will challenge you to look at something differently.
- And throughout our work, I will remain curious about who you are, what shaped you, and what might be possible for you.
The goal isn't perfection.
It's understanding, growth, and meaningful change.
YOU CAN START EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE
You don't need to have it all figured out before you come in.
You don't need to know exactly what is wrong. You don't need to know what you want the answer to be. And you certainly don't need to arrive with the perfect words to explain it.
You can start exactly where you are.
There is always hope.
MARCIA NORMAN, PSY.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist · PY7907
POSITIVE CHANGE COUNSELING, PLLC
525 N. Park Ave. | Winter Park, FL 32789 | (407) 760-6616 | DrMarciaNorman.com