From the very beginning of her career with a B.S. in Child Development & Family Relationships, Dr. Lepage has been focusing on families, and she has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, parents, and children going through divorce. Dr. Lepage completed both her master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation in Clinical Psychology in the area of developing parenting plans, and is an expert in cooperative co-parenting and parallel parenting. Her combined experience in divorce transitions, child development, parenting plans, and conflict resolution make her highly sought out by people going through separation. She is skilled at helping within the traditional divorce model that most use, and is an advocate for the non-adversarial model of collaborative divorce.

Dr. Tina Lepage was the first psychologist in the Triangle to become fully trained in collaborative divorce (CD), and she continues to be the most highly trained and experienced mental health professional working in CD in this geographic area. Since 2004 Dr. Lepage has engaged in well over 200 hours of training in CD and mediation, and works with numerous families each year going though this transition. A leader in CD in the Triangle, Dr. Lepage was the Case Manager and Child Specialist on the first Full Team CD in this area, and is on the Executive Committee of the NC Association of Collaborative Divorce Professionals. Her training and experience includes the Full Team and Referral Models of CD.

Dr. Lepage completed both her clinical master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation in the area of developing parenting plans, determining the highest quality protocol for assessing child and family needs and then addressing those needs in potential parenting arrangements. At Lepage Associates she went on to develop a unique, tiered approach to parenting plan consults and to custody evaluations which meets the information and cost needs of every family. Click here for additional information on her qualifications regarding parenting plans and custody evaluations, as well as for a list of frequently asked questions regarding custody evaluations. Dr. Lepage is certified to act as a Parent Coordinator in NC, and is an expert in Cooperative Co-Parenting and Parallel Parenting. She brings the expertise of understanding the unique developmental needs from birth through the teen years, and understanding the dynamics of family relationships. She is able to address how these intersect, that is, how the various family relationships are meeting the developmental needs of the child.

A related area of expertise for Dr. Lepage has been career counseling, and she has developed and managed successful professional growth programs for universities, corporations, and the U.S. military. This area of expertise can be very helpful as people going through divorce reconsider career paths and choices, or struggle with practical issues such as selling oneself after years out of the workforce, selling oneself into a new profession, job searching, resume writing, and successful interviewing.

Dr. Imbraguglio is a specialist in children, adolescents, and families. She holds her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Interpersonal Dynamics, and a Master’s degree in Community and Clinical Psychology. Dr. Imbraguglio has treated children, teens, and adults experiencing the following symptoms that are many times associated with significant life stressors such as separation and divorce: anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, stress, physical symptoms of stress, and poor school performance. Using cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, and interpersonal therapeutic techniques with adults and teens, Dr. Imbraguglio assists individuals in working through the challenges these stressors bring to everyday life. In addition, using play therapy she counsels children who are sometimes caught in the middle of feuding parents, or are hesitant or confused about their feelings about the divorce or custody and parent visitation. Her services are specifically tailored to the age of the teen or child and the specific situation and include both talk and play therapies.

Dr. Imbraguglio’s concentration in Interpersonal Dynamics makes her highly skilled in helping people to maintain and/or rebuild relationships during and after divorce; she works to help parents and children stay connected and work through difficult feelings surrounding the divorce, and to help people develop an effective co-parenting relationship. Her specialized skills also make her highly sought out by parents as they make decisions regarding co-parenting issues and parenting plans. She has a special interest in working with children and teenagers dealing with divorce or marital conflict in the family, and also works with their parents to help lessen conflict and minimize the impact of the divorce process on the child. As part of this work, in addition to helping families who choose the traditional divorce process, Dr. Imbraguglio is also trained in both the referral model and Full Team Collaborative Divorce and is a member of the NC Association of Collaborative Divorce Professionals. She encourages families to consider Collaborative Divorce models when deciding upon their divorce process.

Dr. Imbraguglio has developed and conducted psychoeducational classes and outreach programs in several topics often relevant in separation and divorce: Stress & Anger Management, Substance Abuse, Depression, and Relationship Building.

Dr. Sampson has worked with families at various stages of separation and divorce. She takes a holistic approach to assessing the needs of each individual family in order to provide comprehensive treatment and support. The divorce process is often painful and challenging for adults to navigate and despite parents’ best attempts to protect their children, they often get caught in the middle. When this happens, whether children are exhibiting problematic emotional and behavioral reactions or not, it can be beneficial to involve children and adolescents in counseling. Dr. Sampson has heightened sensitivity to the confusion and loss that children and adolescents often experience when going through a divorce. Through expressive therapies such as art, play and talk therapy, Dr. Sampson provides a safe, comfortable space within which children and teenagers can express and understand their feelings. Dr. Sampson also works with children, teenagers and parents to improve their ability to articulate feelings and needs assertively in order to keep healthy lines of communication open during the transitions that divorce brings. She also works specifically with parents during a divorce to mediate and resolve conflict regarding the children and develop guidelines for effective co-parenting.


Dr. Freeman has experience working with couples in all stages of separation and divorce. Her warm, accepting, and non-judgmental manner allows her to be supportive to both partners while also helping them come to terms with the end of their marriage and figure out how to move forward. She enjoys working with individuals experiencing this transition to help them handle the stress as well as to develop a new life vision and plan. In addition if they prefer, she can also work with both parties together to assist them in separating amicably.

Dr. Ashley Freeman has participated in Collaborative Divorce training and has seven years of experience working with children, families, adults, couples, and groups that she brings to her work as a Divorce Coach. Dr. Freeman strives to help her separating clients explore their interests, needs, and reactions in a supportive, nonjudgmental and genuine environment. She helps them identify and improve communication patterns as well as unearth the underlying emotions or interests fueling the conflict, so they can be well prepared to be effective in negotiations with their spouse. Dr. Freeman is skilled at assisting her clients in identify both their individual and collective interests in order to help make the separation and divorce process as smooth and amicable as possible, resulting in well-informed decisions and agreements. In particular, her specialized expertise as a group therapist has equipped her with a keen eye for communication patterns among the parties involved in the process, which has equipped her with a keen eye for communication patterns between individuals. She has found this experience to be very useful in improving communication among spouses, and helping the process go as smoothly as possible. She encourages families to consider Collaborative Divorce model when deciding upon their divorce process.

If desired by the client in her work with divorcing couples, she creates a safe and comfortable space to include all important parties in the process including children and any other important people who may need assistance coming to terms with the separation and divorce. Dr. Freeman can do this work individually, such as individual supportive therapy with a child or other family member, or can bring everyone together as a group to process the life changes taking place.


Dr. Gina LaFrazza uses an integrative approach when working with families going through a separation or divorce. She believes family members are parts of a whole system, and when change occurs to the system, each part, or rather, each family member, is inadvertently changed. Dr. LaFrazza aids all family members in understanding these changes and how the same life transition may affect each family member slightly differently. In terms of divorce, Dr. LaFrazza believes that the end of marriage represents a loss for all involved even when it may be the healthier and wiser decision to separate. To this end, when working with individuals and families in this area, she believes in acknowledging this loss and processing unresolved issues. Dr. LaFrazza underscores the importance of coping skills and teaches how to most effectively utilize these skills during times of distress. Throughout separation and divorce counseling, Dr. LaFrazza provides a setting for individuals to voice conflicts in a more productive manner. She takes an active, problem-solving approach and guides couples to more successful interaction patterns. Dr. LaFrazza also helps parents going through a divorce on communication with their child/children and mitigating the effects of the process on the child/children. She also helps parents to create effective co-parenting plans which meet both specific parent priorities as well as the developmental needs of the child.

Dr. LaFrazza has worked with teenagers and adolescents whose parents have been at all stages of separation and divorce. Drawing upon her knowledge of developmental psychology and grief and loss models, Dr. LaFrazza adeptly creates a safe and secure environment for youth to acknowledge and process the loss of their family as they knew it and to work through their fears and frustrations. It is often the unknown of what is going to happen after the separation that weighs most heavily on children’s minds. To this end, Dr. LaFrazza helps children and teenagers develop the skills to assertively discuss their concerns with their parents and to increase distress tolerance skills when dealing with disappointments.


While Dr. Savia always hopes she can help couples repair or strengthen their marriages, she realizes some relationships are not reparable. When divorce is inevitable, Dr. Savia works to support individuals and couples move through a difficult time with integrity, grace, and mutual respect. Her work extends beyond the legal dissolution of a marriage to supporting clients as they grieve and adjust, and as they develop a new life plan and a hopeful vision for the future.


When couples have made the difficult decision to end their marriage, Colette can assist them in bringing closure and working toward an amicable dissolution of the marriage contract. When children are involved, this is an especially important process that assures the children are protected from the emotional distress that results from a more contentious divorce process. Colette has completed the Full Team Collaborative Divorce Training and is a member of the Collaborative Divorce Interdisciplinary Practice Group (CDIG) of the Triangle. She is qualified to serve as a divorce coach as well as the child specialist for couples seeking divorce through the Collaborative Divorce process. In addition, for adults going through a traditional divorce process, she provides life transitioning counseling to assist in this difficult transition. She also does individual therapy with children and teens whose parents are going through a divorce, and works with divorced couples on developing cooperative parenting practices for the benefit of their children during and beyond the divorce.

Dr. Molly Parks assists couples, families, and children to make the often stressful process of divorce as smooth and manageable as possible. She has extensive experience working with children who are going through or who have experienced divorce in their family in processing this event and moving through it with a healthy and intact sense of self. She has also worked to help parents create plans for successful co-parenting and structuring shared custody living arrangements that are appropriate to their family’s specific needs as well as the developmental needs of the child/children. Dr. Parks is particularly interested in working with parents through the divorce process to provide parent guidance in creating healthy households after divorce takes place.

Dr. Rhonda Karg specializes in brief, solution-focused life transition counseling for separation and divorce. In addition, she is an expert in motivational interviewing for health behaviors (exercise, healthy eating, etc.), all self-care areas which have an important impact on managing emotions and clear thinking during the separation and divorce process. Dr. Karg provides interventions for depression and anxiety, including reactions to loss/life transitions, trauma, family conflicts, and health concerns. Her finely tuned skills in motivation make her highly sought out by people going through during difficult times. She also has a strong specialty in all addictive behaviors with an extensive background in treating substance abuse and dependence to include providing an empirically validated brief intervention found to reduce substance use, and her expertise extends to reducing harmful use of alcohol, illicit drugs, tobacco, and prescription medications. She is an excellent resource if substance abuse, or other addictive behaviors such as gambling, pornography, Internet relationships, shopping/spending, etc., have been issues that contributed to the decision to separate and divorce. Dr. Karg holds a Doctorate and Master's degree in clinical psychology and is a licensed psychologist, and works with adults and with teenagers.

Dr. Colleen Hamilton provides assistance to individuals transitioning following divorce or separation. Her individual work focuses on life-restructuring issues often seen during that time, such as identifying support systems, changing one's peer groups, and effective co-parenting. As one of our resident child psychologists, she is well versed in helping parents understand, help, and guide their children through the divorce process. Dr. Hamilton also works with parents to develop an effective co-parenting relationship or parallel parenting system.