Dr. Ryan Adams is originally from the Chicago metropolitan area and completed his B.S. in psychology with a minor study in philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He then moved out west to the Sonoran Desert for graduate school.  There he received his M.Ed. in counselor education, and his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Arizona State University.  Dr. Adams ventured to the Mid-Atlantic to complete his predoctoral internship at Towson University’s Counseling Center and then postdoctoral clinical fellowship at the George Washington University Counseling Center before joining the Mason Counseling and Psychological Services staff in May 2009. 

Dr. Adams uses an integrative and interpersonal approach in therapy, tailoring specific therapeutic interventions to correspond with the world view, attitudes, beliefs, and goals of his students.  He believes that the foundation of successful therapeutic change is the dynamic relationship formed between the client and therapist.  As such, Dr. Adams believes in developing a strong collaborative relationship with his students that will empower them to discover and create richer personal meaning in their lives. 

Dr. Adams is a generalist and is trained to work with the wide variety of clinical issues presented at a university setting.  Areas of particular clinical interest include: individual, couples, and group psychotherapy, men’s issues, grief and loss, relationship concerns, and mood disorders.