Amani Surges Martorella, LCSW-C

Acting Associate Director of Outreach

Pronouns: she/her/hers

I joined the JHU Counseling Center in 2013. In addition to seeing clients for therapy, I am the Coordinator for Services for Peabody students, as well as the Advisor to a A Place to Talk, which has an over 35-year history of providing peer listening services to the undergraduate Homewood community. As a therapist, I strive to help students feel seen, heard and understood, explore questions around identity development, empowerment and family of origin.

Originally from rural Pennsylvania, I got my BA in Anthropology and Religion from American University in Washington, DC. I remained there for a few years afterward as an Americorps volunteer where I decided that I wanted to pursue social work as a career. I completed by graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005 and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Maryland. My professional experience includes working in a long-term residential treatment center for adolescents with severe trauma histories, providing assessment and treatment to court-mandated clients with substance abuse issues, and working in emergency mental health providing crisis intervention services, most recently with Baltimore County Crisis Response where I served as both a clinician and a supervisor.

In addition to my work at the Counseling Center, I am a parent to two amazing young people and enjoy, baking, musical theater, singing, hiking, and planning trips of literally any kind. I am a proud resident of Baltimore City along with my spouse and daughters and can easily get sucked into talking local politics, new restaurants, or what’s good on Netflix with anyone.