Dr. Ashley Smith earned her PhD in clinical psychology with an emphasis in children and families in 2007. She completed a predoctoral internship at Children’s Mercy Hospital before joining the staff at Omaha Children’s Hospital to help develop their dedicated anxiety services. In 2009, She relocated to Kansas City to serve as a senior staff psychologist at a nationally recognized anxiety specialty center. She ventured out on her own in 2017 and continues her private practice, where she is a sought-after anxiety specialist. In addition to direct clinical work, she is actively involved in a number of other scholarly activities. She has been an adjunct assistant professor and has provided supervision and consultation for students and other professionals. She has several publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters in edited volumes, blog posts and online articles, and a book, Childhood Anxiety Disorders. She is a long-time member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and recently received their Special Recognition Award for her public outreach efforts. Dr. Ashley regularly presents workshops and trainings on local and national levels. She is passionate about sharing cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology practices, and applied neuroscience to help people struggling with anxiety live better lives; this passion has driven efforts to help more people in novel ways, ultimately leading to the creation of Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength, which she co-founded in 2019.

After a life-changing healing experience during a mindfulness practice that healed her panic disorder and PTSD naturally, Dr. Shannon South went on to train with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), Dr. Ron Seigal of Harvard, Dr. Deepak Chopras’ programs and many other mindfulness modalities. She realized there was more going on than traditional therapy and received her doctorate in spiritual psychology. As a therapist for over 20 years, she is an expert at helping others embody more abundance, joy and heal trauma naturally. She is the Founder of The Inner Counselor Certification Program (C-ICP) where she trains counselors, clinicians and healing professionals internationally on how to embody their higher Self and help their clients do the same using mindfulness and a powerful trauma-informed process called The Inner Counselor Process™.