Hi, I’m Tiffany.

Tiffany Acuff, AMFT

Individual & Couples Pre-Licensed Therapist

Welcome to Whole Self Counseling. I’m a Therapist based in Nashville, offering individual and couples therapy rooted in deep curiosity, compassion, and a belief in your inherent wisdom. Together, we’ll create a space where you don’t have to choose between authenticity and connection, where your full self is welcome.

Whether you’re navigating a season of loss, questioning your identity, feeling disconnected in your relationships, or carrying pain that doesn’t yet have words, something in you is reaching for change. I believe that reaching out for support is a courageous act. You don’t have to do this alone.

Link to Story in Nashville Voyager Magazine

Sign Up Here

My Approach

My work is grounded in the belief that our psychological suffering often comes from the ways we’ve had to adapt in order to be loved or survive. These adaptations, while protective, can disconnect us from who we truly are. I integrate Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and trauma-informed care to help you explore those patterns with gentleness and clarity.

Therapy with me is not about fixing what is broken. It is about creating enough internal and relational safety to turn toward what has been exiled. I will meet you exactly where you are, without urgency or agenda, and walk alongside you at a pace that honors your nervous system, your story, and your hope for something more. Healing happens not by force, but by reconnecting with the parts of you that already carry the wisdom to move toward wholeness.

Before entering the mental health field, I co-founded the Nashville nonprofit Corner to Corner, where I partnered with adults and organizations to address both individual and systemic inequities. As the adoptive mother of a child with a disability, I bring lived experience and a profound respect for how the systems we inhabit shape both our inner world and our relationships. My work honors the systems we come from and the protective parts we have relied on to survive.

My Specialties

I specialize in working with:

  • Individuals and couples navigating grief, trauma, and relational pain

  • People exploring identity, belonging, and authenticity

  • Clients in caregiving roles, including adoptive parents and those supporting loved ones with disabilities or mental illness

  • High-achieving and high-profile individuals who feel the pressure to hold it all together while quietly unraveling inside

  • Those deconstructing or reshaping spiritual and family systems

  • Clients working through anxiety, guilt, and shame that no longer serve them

Trauma

“If you carry trauma, you can expect a space that moves at your pace and honors your nervous system’s wisdom. I will not push you to revisit anything before you feel ready, and all parts of your experience are welcome here. Together we will gently build trust, within our relationship and within yourself, as we listen for what your pain is protecting. Healing will not be about forcing change but about creating enough safety for something new to emerge.”

Individuals

“Choosing therapy is a brave step, and I want you to know that you will not have to do this work alone. With me, you can expect a space that feels warm, steady, and deeply accepting. It will be a place where all parts of you are welcome, even the ones you have had to hide or silence. Together we will slow down and listen closely to what your experiences are asking for, honoring both your truth and your need for connection. My role is not to fix you but to walk alongside you as you discover your own clarity, strength, and capacity for healing.”

Couples

“Whether you are stuck in the same arguments, questioning your future together, or feeling like all hope is lost, I want you to know that you are not alone and that change is possible. I offer a grounded and nonjudgmental space where both of you can feel heard, even if you have stopped hearing each other. My role is not to take sides but to help you slow down, understand the patterns beneath the conflict, and find your way back to clarity, connection, and choice.”

Grief

“If you carry grief, you can expect a space that honors the depth of your loss and the wisdom of your body’s response. Through Compassionate Inquiry, we will gently notice how grief shows up—in your thoughts, emotions, and nervous system—without rushing or pushing past what feels safe. All parts of your experience are welcome here, from the ache of longing to the protectors that help you get through the day. Together we will move at your pace, building trust in our relationship and within yourself, creating enough safety for healing, meaning, and connection to slowly emerge.”

Whatever brings you here, my role is to help you slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with what is most true in you.

Caregivers & Adoption Triads

“If you are a caregiver or part of an adoption triad, you carry a unique set of burdens and bonds that often go unseen. In our work together, you can expect a space where you do not have to minimize your exhaustion, silence your grief, or carry the weight alone. I offer a steady, compassionate presence where you can bring the parts of yourself that have been overlooked in the demands of caregiving or hidden in the complexities of adoption. Together we will explore the tension between loyalty and authenticity, sacrifice and self-care, and belonging and loss. This is a place to honor the fullness of your experience and reclaim wholeness in your story.”

My Style

  • Thorough

  • Invitational

  • Direct

  • Encouraging

Get in Touch

Reach out for a brief 15 minute consultation call to determine whether working together feels like a good fit.

FAQ

Our work together begins in a space where all of you is welcome.

Schedule a consultation today to take the first step.

  • You already have. Let’s see if I’m the right fit to join you as you pursue change. Please reach out on my Contact page to schedule a brief consultation.

  • Individual sessions are $175

    Couples sessions are $195

    Whole Self Counseling is Self-Pay only and does not accept Insurance at this time.

    Payment for therapy is more than a transaction—it is a commitment to your healing, your relationships, and your wholeness. My hope is that this investment feels like a meaningful step toward valuing yourself and the life you long for.

  • Therapy sessions are one clinical hour of 50 minutes.

    Sessions may also be booked at the 90-minute and 2-hour rate.

    Individual and Marriage Intensives are available.

    Every person’s therapy journey is different. Many clients notice meaningful change within six to eight sessions, while others choose a slower, more deliberate pace.

    At Whole Self Counseling, my goal is to give you the tools and clarity to continue your growth long after therapy ends. You will never be asked to stay longer than is helpful.

    For details about timing and scheduling, connect on my contact page to discuss your unique circumstance.

  • A pre-licensed therapist has completed a graduate degree in counseling and is fulfilling state-required post-graduate hours toward independent licensure. They practice under the supervision of a licensed clinical supervisor, engaging in regular case consultation to ensure high-quality, ethical care.

    My Education includes:

    Master of Marriage and Family Therapy, Lipscomb University

    Bachelors of Arts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    The Gottman Method Level I Trained

    Prepare/Enrich Certified Facilitator

  • Mondays (8 am-2 pm) & (5 pm-9 pm)

    Tuesday - Friday (8 am - 2 pm)

  • Whole Self Counseling is located at 822 Meridian St in the Mcferrin Park Neighborhood of East Nashville.

    The office is located within the Marigold Counseling House.

    Limited Parking spaces are located directly behind the house and are accessible via the alley way. On-street parking is also available directly across the house on Wilburn Street. Please do not park in a Residential Permit zone.

  • If you are a new client, then fill out my contact form to get started.

    If you are a current client, then you may reach out via the client portal to schedule your next session.

  • If you need to cancel your appointment, please do so at least 24 hours in advance to avoid being charged the full session fee. Cancellations or rescheduling can be arranged by contacting me directly via call, text, or email.

    I recognize that unexpected situations arise. Illness, accidents, and genuine emergencies can make it impossible to give 24 hours’ notice. In these cases, I will use discretion and compassion. Cancellations due to severe weather will never incur a fee, as your safety is my priority.

  • Description YOUR RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS AGAINST SURPRISE

    MEDICAL BILLS

    (Adapted from OMB Control Number: 0938-1401)

    When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.

    What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?

    When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.

    “Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.

    “Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care - like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.

    You are protected from balance billing for:

    Emergency services

    If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.

    Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center

    When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections to not be balance billed.

    If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you unless you give written consent and give up your protections.

    You’re never required to give up your protection from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.

    When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:

    ● You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.

    ● Your health plan generally must:

    o Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).

    o Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.

    o Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.

    o Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.

    If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact The Tennessee Department of Health, Board for Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists, and Clinical Pastoral Therapists:

    Unit1HRB.Health@tn.gov (615) 741-5735

    Visit https://www.cms.gov/files/document/model-disclosure-notice-patient-protections-against-surprise-billing-providers-facilities-health.pdf for more information about your rights under Federal law.