Ryan C. Bailey | Counselor + Coach + TRAINER | Master of Arts in Christian Counseling | Advanced Life Coaching and Corporate 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, Ryan earned both the Advanced Life Coaching and Advanced Corporate Coaching certifications from coachu.com, the oldest coaching school in the world, in 2010.
Ryan is working towards a Ph.D. in Practical Theology. His dissertation centers on Galatians 5:16—how to walk by the Spirit, so we do not gratify the flesh. In particular, how do we develop such a tighter moment-by-moment relationship with Christ that we want Him consistently more and find ourselves getting greater and greater distance from our sinful habits and addictions? The goal of obtaining the Ph.D. is for Ryan to serve his clients better, foster greater healing and growth, and ultimately help grow his clients' love for God.
Ryan is certified in:
MBTI (Myers-Briggs). Certified from www.capt.org. Ryan's Myers-Briggs type is ENFJ
EQ-i 2.0 & EQ-i 360. Certified from www.hpsys.com.
Prepare/Enrich relationship Assessment Facilitator
Serge’s Sonship and Sonship Apprentice courses
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 women and girls to share their hearts openly and honestly. By combining effective counseling techniques with the amazing hope and wisdom of the Gospel, Becca helps females 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 B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Interpersonal Counseling and a minor in Biblical Studies from Covenant College, a Master's 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.
Claire Kaufman | Content Coordinator
Claire provides administrative, research, content, and general support to 1st Principle Group. She enjoys helping people and seeing them reach their fullest potential.
Claire is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and graduated with her undergraduate degree from Georgia State University in 2019. After graduation, she worked as a part of a team to support amphibian conservation efforts. Claire found that one of the most important and impactful aspects of any job is being able to work effectively with others, and she is now focused on using these interpersonal and communication skills to support 1st Principle Group’s mission. She helps to create engaging, practical resources that are tailored to each client and provides administrative support to leaders.
Claire lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband and best friend Lucas. During her free time, you may find her gardening, bird watching, or creating art.
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 puppy, Yuna, and spending time with her siblings.