Whetstone Academy
Mountain Rest, SC

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Whetstone Academy Introduces Therapeutic Staff

Whetstone Academy would like to announce their upcoming Clinical Staff. These new team members will be joining the Whetstone later this year.

Erin Rice Cantalini, LPC, NCC,
Director of Clinical Program Services

Erin will be arriving at Whetstone on September 1st.

Erin received her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a focus in Body-Centered Therapies as well a certificate in Additions Counseling and a post-graduate certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy from Appalachian State University in 2012. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) as well as a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). She is currently attaining her Registered Expressive Arts Therapy (REAT) accreditation.

Prior to attending graduate school she began her career at Georgia Southern University where she received her B.S. in Psychology in 2008 and volunteered with a boys group home and a women's shelter for several years. She also was a Master-level wilderness therapy guide at SUWS of Carolinas, where she primarily worked with co-ed middle-schoolers from 2007 - 2010. During graduate school she was an intern at a women's residential addiction program as well as an intern at SUWS's Parent Program, facilitating psychoeducational workshops. After graduate school she was a therapist at SUWS of the Carolinas, for the Approach program, an adolescent male group with a clinical emphasis of clients presenting with Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning differences and mood disorders.

Erin comes to Whetstone Academy from Asheville Academy for Girls, a residential treatment center for middle-school age girls, where she specialized in working alongside clients with Autism, mood disorders, Anxiety, attachment concerns and learning differences where she integrated individual therapy with family services. She has an extensive history of working with families to increase family resiliency, effective parenting techniques and rebuilding relationships with their child for a healthy re-introduction to the home.

Erin uses a blend of therapies that are individualized to the needs of the client and the family and typically employs modalities including: Expressive Arts Therapy, Play Therapy, Family Systems Theory, Ecotherapy, Trauma-focused Equine Assisted Therapy (TF-EAP), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

She is also the co-founder of an Expressive Arts Therapy collective- Fruition, which offers yearly immersion workshops and other offerings in the Asheville area.

In her off time she enjoys cooking, gardening, creating pottery and other arts, camping, kayaking and dancing. She is also an avid University of Alabama football fan and trying to console living in Clemson territory.

Justin S. Cantalini, MA, NCC, LPC,
Clinical Director for Individual/Family Services

Justin will be arriving at Whetstone later this fall.

Justin Cantalini is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor. He holds an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Appalachian State University with a concentration of studies in Marriage and Family counseling. During his program he earned a post-graduate certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy and a graduate certificate in Addictions Counseling. He is currently working towards becoming a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT). Prior to working for Whetstone Academy Justin was a therapist for the Seasons program, an intensive therapeutic wilderness program that served at risk youth and their families.

Justin took an interest in cybernetic systems theory during his graduate studies and developed his own personal integrated model of treatment called Second-Order Intermodal Therapy. Justin values creativity and intentionality with helping families to evolve and sees struggle as a window to opportunity. His goal is to help clients and their families re-author the story of their lives to one that is not controlled by problems, but rather solutions. He emphasizes the idea that families need to shift away from fixing their problems; they need to reconnect with what is fun and meaningful. Most families will admit that when things were going well they were having fun together, not trying to work together.

His clinical specialties include working with trauma, adoption/attachment, mood dysregulation, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, anxiety, ODD, OCD, and family systems. He uses an integrated systemic and relational/experiential approach including core modalities of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-focused Therapy, and Expressive Arts Therapy. Justin often utilizes mindfulness, play, improvisation, eco-therapy, and creative fun.

Justin enjoys spending time in the outdoors. He has been practicing sculpture and ceramics for over 15 years as well as percussion and drumming for 25 years. He also considers himself a novice gardner, fisherman, and writer.

Brooke Andregic, LCSW
Primary Therapist

Brooke is a native of South Central Pennsylvania who comes to Whetstone by way of Charleston. Brooke earned her Bachelor's degrees in Spanish and Latin American Caribbean Studies at the College of Charleston in 2009 and went on to earn her Master's in Social Work from the University of South Carolina.

Brooke has worked with children in various roles and capacities over the past decade including the following: Kids Yoga Journey instructor, camp counselor, youth mentor, nursery caretaker, literacy coach, private nanny, Montessori teaching assistant, TEFL teacher in Thailand, and mental health therapist. Most recently, Brooke worked at the Dee Norton Low Country Children's' Center in Charleston where she was in a dual-role as a clinical intern and a family advocate. Brooke oriented families to the process of evaluation, assessment, and therapy; she also ran parenting groups and co-facilitated the Sexual Behavior Problems groups for both child and adolescent boys.

All of these experiences have only reinforced her passionate belief that each child's path is unique and uncharted; Brooke believes that the Montessori philosophy 'Follow the Child' applies to therapy as well.

Please join us in welcoming these three talented individuals to the Whetstone team.

Whetstone Academy is a year round therapeutic boarding school for young boys ages 10 - 14. WA is full therapeutic program in a Montessori environment encouraging young men to discover their innate worth and nurture those gifts to fruition.