1st Principle Group
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1PG Team

Meet Our Team

Ryan C. Bailey | Counselor + Coach + TRAINER | Master of Arts in Christian Counseling | Advanced Corporate Coaching and Life Coaching Certified | ryan@1stprinciplegroup.com

As founder, principal counselor, coach, and trainer of 1st Principle Group, Ryan is a warm, insightful, trustworthy professional who has worked with clients in individual, couple, family, or group sessions for over two decades. He meets with clients at his office, over the phone, or via Zoom.

Practicing Bible-based counseling under GA State Law (GA Code Title 43-10A-7,b,11), Ryan specializes in marriage counseling, conflict resolution, and sex/pornography addiction.  He also helps clients who are struggling with:

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • A crisis

  • Divorce recovery

  • Grief

  • Trauma or abuse recovery

  • Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

  • Pre-Marital Counseling

  • Infertility

  • Adoption issues

  • Determining their call and how they are designed to fulfill their call

Having survived personal trauma himself, Ryan understands brokenness and the need to learn forgiveness and repentance. He perseveres with clients, fighting alongside them to discover the heart of their struggles and to win, using the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a guide.

Clients who have experienced home runs working with Ryan describe his greatest attribute as "getting to the heart of the matter" to create "real, lasting change at the heart level." Ryan loves understanding the problems of the heart and uses that philosophy to get to the essence of client concerns quickly. Using the Gospel in his work allows him to facilitate true, lasting change rather than apply Band-Aid solutions.

Ryan’s broad and varied personal and professional history allows him to connect with clients from many walks of life.  

Raised in a Dominican neighborhood in upper Manhattan, Washington Heights, Ryan’s bilingual (Spanish) language skills enabled him to serve as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, where he helped to found a Christian community development church. 

Upon graduating from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Ryan worked with start-up entrepreneurs and corporate executives before becoming a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch.  There, he counseled clients about long-term financial strategies.  However, as successful as he was in financial consulting, Ryan wanted to go deeper into people’s lives to help them heal, get unstuck, and grow.

In 2004, Ryan earned a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, completing both the Marriage & Family Therapy and Licensed Professional Counseling tracks.  While at Gordon-Conwell, Ryan wrote every paper he could on sex/porn addiction, the Gospel, or both. As Ryan completed his practicums and internships, he gained specialized marital and family therapy training

Seeing that some of his clients wanted to work on issues related to growth and some wanted to address workplace issues in addition to personal matters, in 2010, Ryan earned both the Advanced Life Coaching and Advanced Corporate Coaching certifications from coachu.com, the oldest coaching school in the world.

Ryan is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Practical Theology. His dissertation is centered on how the Gospel transforms our addictions. When appropriate, he shares what he is learning with his clients to grow their love for God and foster healing and growth.

Ryan is certified in:

He also uses CliftonStrengths 34.  His top five strengths are:
1) Communicator
2) Strategy
3) Empathy
4) Achiever
5) Developer

As an active church member, Ryan has served as a ruling elder and adult Sunday School teacher. He is married to the love of his life, Grace, with whom he has adopted three wonderful children: twin boys and a girl. They live in the metropolitan Atlanta area.

Ryan loves Latin music, walks miles in the morning while having devotional times with God, and is a fan of Rafa Nadal. Knowing Nadal is near retirement, Ryan is ready to cheer for Carlos Alcaraz.

 

Megan Koh | LIFE and Career Development Coach | megan@1stprinciplegroup.com

Megan is passionate about helping others understand and improve themselves and their most important relationships.

In 2014, Megan was introduced to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  Impressed by how accurately the test nailed her and helped her achieve goals, she spent hundreds of hours studying the personality tool and applying it to a variety of contexts.  Later, she was introduced to Emotional Intelligence and began also researching how self-awareness can lead to self-improvement.  In 2017, she began developing and conducting workshops on Myers-Briggs and EQ.

Megan completed her MBTI certification with The Myers-Briggs Company and her EQ-i 2.0 certification with HPSYS.

Megan loves working with agile, ready-to-move clients in a variety of areas.  She can:

  • Explain why others do what they do, and deliver tips on how to improve relationships in an emotionally-intelligent and personality-based way

  • Deliver pre-engagement and pre-marital counseling that goes deep and sets a firm foundation

  • Help clients find and achieve their next career move in a way that fit their strengths, interests, and backgrounds

Outside of work, Megan can be found jogging, stocking up her fridge with homemade Korean side dishes, and going on metropolitan adventures with her husband Danny.

 

Becca Elder | Counselor | BEcCA@1stprinciplegroup.com

Becca is passionate about bringing the truth and hope of the Gospel to each specific person in their specific struggle. She provides a safe and empathetic place for people to share their hearts openly and honestly. By combining effective counseling techniques with the amazing hope and wisdom of the Gospel, Becca helps people work through their struggles and find healing and hope. Gospel-focused counseling changed her own life, particularly in her battle with anxiety, and she is excited to bring the same hope to others.

Becca has her BA in Sociology with a concentration in Interpersonal Counseling and a minor in Biblical Studies from Covenant College, a masters in Social Work from Georgia State University and a Certificate in Biblical Counseling through the Association of Biblical Counseling. Her background is in social work (foster care and adoption) and working in various ministries (women’s, youth, and children’s). She currently works as the Women’s Ministry Facilitator at her church, serving the women there. In all her work, she has loved the opportunities to walk alongside people and counsel and encourage them.

Spending her first 18 years as a missionary kid in Africa, Becca’s heart is always torn between multiple countries. She understands the world of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Adult TCKs and ministry. Becca also knows the battle with anxiety all too well and knows how truly beautiful but amazingly difficult motherhood can be.

Becca is married to Scott, the guy she met at camp and had twizzler fights with. They continue to have twizzler fights and enjoy life with their 4 little girls. In her free time, Becca loves to spend time outside with her family, run (as fast or as slow as her heart desires), laugh with friends, try to keep her plants alive, and when she gets a chance, nap.

 

JOSHUA TERRY | COUNSELING INTERN

Joshua is a first-year student at Richmont Graduate University. He is studying to become a licensed Christian counselor focusing on boundaries and anxiety. He loves understanding why things work the way they do and is passionate about helping people. He is married to his best friend, Alyssa, and has an Irish Golden Doodle. In his spare time, he enjoys video games and eating Kroger bakery cookies.


Kaitlin Koh | Researcher

Kaitlin Koh is the 1st Principal Group researcher responsible for informing her team on the latest studies, trends, and research. She is a third-year student at Georgia Tech, studying business administration and concentrating on accounting. Kaitlin lives south of Atlanta and loves learning about nutrition, playing with her new puppy, Yuna, and spending time with her siblings.