Meet the Team

In private practice I currently provide Marital Therapy, Addiction Assessments, and Spiritual Exploration & Development. Additionally, I provide continuing education training webinars for mental health clinicians thru E Care Behavioral Health Institute of Mooresville, North Carolina.

However, my experience from having been on a previous collaborative divorce group with two current team members was one of the most satisfying and rewarding times of my career. Commonly, I see clients in my private practice who struggle from unhealthy divorces occurring in their childhood history. A repeated theme is ‘it’s not that my parents divorced, but it’s the way that they divorced’.  I am convinced that the collaborative divorce process is the very best way to ensure the mental health and wellbeing of all family members, and helps set a good foundation for co-parenting and continuing relationships for the future welfare of all family members.

Philosophically, Ann believes counseling begins with a safe and collaborative relationship between therapist and client. Her position as a counselor is to help the client empathically investigate causes and origins of behaviors that may maintain unhealthy patterns; teach constructive coping skills; suggest strategies for empowering the client; and assist in identity development. She believes in the power of relationships and enjoys working with clients to develop strong and meaningful connections in their lives. Working with individuals and families, Ann has seen the damage and devastation from conflictual divorces. Looking for an alternative, Ann trained in the Collaborative Process as a viable means where each person can be heard, validated and respected. She is excited to be involved in collaborative work and share the process with others.

Ann earned her PhD in Counseling from Newburgh Seminary and her MA in Counseling from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where she graduated with honors. She is also a member of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. Prior to a counseling career, Ann worked for a major corporation as an Industrial Engineer and has owned a small private company. She feels her varied experiences have enriched her ability to understand situations clients often face and to help them navigate to health.

In 2019 I opened Annie's Creative Counseling, a family focused private practice that values love, advocacy and collaboration. Our comprehensive approach empowers the family unit to grow together. My value of collaboration carries through as a Child Specialist. I believe in that all children have a voice, we just have to attune ourselves to hearing it. Being the voice for a child is even more essential during this critical time of their lives. My non-invasive approach allows each family a unique experience that is tailored to their needs. Working together will ease the anxiety that comes with this transition and set the foundation for life-long success.

I enjoy working with people on an individual basis to guide them toward change. My background in both school counseling and communication prepared her to work closely with people across the life span. My philosophy of counseling is to meet clients in the space in which they are ready, and help them to get to where they want to be. My history as a counselor includes working with families and individuals to create more effective communication patterns. I enjoy working with adolescents and adults in a range of diagnoses including: anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, trauma, grief, and has been trained in DBT therapy.

In 1998, I opened my own firm in Huntersville and have enjoyed being in a small office environment.  Relationships have always been important to me, and having the ability to personally connect with clients is one of the elements that I enjoy the most about my job. While in law school, I was drawn to family law and knew that I wanted to practice primarily in that area.  It has been the largest component of my practice for most of my career.  I am by nature a peace keeper, so it was a natural fit to help clients attempt to resolve their differences in an amicable manner if possible. I have been involved in the collaborative law process for over twenty years and was a founding member of the Lake Norman Collaborative Group.  I wholeheartedly embrace the team approach as a way to minimize the damage that divorce causes to families and maximize the resources retained by the family.

Mark has been a NCDRC-Certified Superior Court Mediator since 2005, and his practice historically has been heavily concentrated in trial work, mediations, and contract drafting and review. He has handled matters in the North Carolina Superior and District Courts, the North Carolina Business Court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to his busy law practice, Mark has served on or led on numerous charitable boards, including the United Way, HealthReach Community Clinic, Our Towns Habitat for Humanity, and the Mooresville/South Iredell Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as a member and vice-chair of the board of directors for Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County, and is a board member and past chairperson of Hope of Mooresville.

Mark states that “without exception, the cases I found most professionally and personally rewarding are those where collaborating with other lawyers and parties allows the parties themselves to unburden from conflict in a beneficial way, offer and receive forgiveness for (or at least come to an understanding of) prior actions or failures to act, and turn the next page in their lives unburdened by the past and unfearful of the future. This is particularly true in family law situations, where all-too-common aggressive, ‘scorched earth’ litigation tactics only feed escalating anger, retaliation and retribution instead of fostering basic human decency, and often leave the parties financially devastated, emotionally broken, personally bitter. And with angry, alienated or emotionally damaged children who carry the scars of their parents’ ‘ugly’ divorce throughout their lives and into their own future relationships. Uncoupling a marriage is a watershed event in the life of any family, but it can be—and it should be—done with a sense of gentleness, compassion and cooperation that will not leave a trail of burned bridges, damaged souls and broken hearts.”

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and my Juris Doctorate from Campbell University. While at Campbell, I was privileged to serve as a staff member of the Campbell Law Review. I have served two terms on the NC Family Law Counsel, am a member and past President of the Iredell County Bar and am a member and past Chairman of Local Rules Committee for Iredell County.

I have two dogs, April & Shelby (both are rescue mutts), whom I often bring to the office, and they help keep everyone relaxed, calm and focused. Practice Areas: Family Law Divorce Mediation, Child Custody and Child Support, Equitable Distribution, Alimony and Post Separation Support, and Civil litigation. Admitted to Practice in North Carolina, 1986. Professional or Trade Affiliations: American Bar Association, 1986 – present North Carolina Bar Association, 1986 – present NCBA Family Law Section, 1986 – present Honors and Awards: Campbell University Law Review American Jurisprudence Award, Corporations and Torts.

Publications: Campbell University Law Review, The Open Fields Doctrine, Oliver vs. U.S., 1984. Speaking Engagements: Various topics, National Business Institute and North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section Community Involvement: Mooresville Rotary Club, past member and past president, Distinguished Rotarian Award, 1994 M.A.P., past member, past president Festival Singers, past member Fraternity: Delta Upsilon

I have been a Law Partner in my own firm of Whitfield & Mock, PLLC in Mooresville, NC since 2003 practicing mostly Family Law and Social Security Disability.  Additionally, I am a Licensed NC Family Financial Mediator since January 2012 and Licensed NC Superior Court Mediator since 2014.  Obtained Collaborative Family Law Certification in August 2021. I live in Mooresville and I have been married since 1997 and I have two sons.  I have been a Board Member of HealthReach Community Clinic since 2012.

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During the evolution of my career in family law I have come to greatly value the ability to resolve a difficult separation and divorce case out of court through other means.  I have seen through my client’s cases the extreme financial and emotional cost of taking a divorce case through years of court. This pushed me in my career to get two separate mediation licenses, so that I could assist other parties and their clients get their cases resolved in a much less taxing process of out of court mediations.  In almost ten years of mediating hundreds of cases, I believe a connection and thorough active listening is crucial to help a party to achieve a sense of closure through compromise.  Collaborative Law is an extension of this philosophy that separating couples can both achieve a greater sense of peace through a collaborative effort to meet their goals in divorce.  As we work together as a team, I am excited to present new and creative solutions to the process to help parties achieve a good working agreement that fits their needs.