Marcus Shumate, LCMHC, LCAS

Marcus Shumate, LCMHC, LCAS, is the Growth Director at Advaita Collective, which includes Advaita Integrated Medicine and Green Hill Recovery. A North Carolina native, he grew up in the eastern part of the state. He has held various clinical roles, providing individual therapy, family counseling, and group counseling, while supervising staff development. Throughout his career, Marcus has built relationships between treatment systems to coordinate care for individuals.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling, both from Gardner-Webb University. Previously, he worked in residential SUD treatment with a diverse clinical demographic through various roles. Eventually, he developed a Young Men’s Program, leading clinical programming, supervision, and staff management.

Marcus is passionate about innovation in SUD treatment and challenging constraints. As his professional interests have evolved, he’s become focused on how biases limit individuals and the field. This led to his interest in how contemplative practices can address and penetrate these biases. Additionally, he has developed a deep interest in human flourishing, sparked by classical philosophy texts during his undergraduate studies. Marcus was drawn to Advaita Collective’s mission due to this alignment.

Currently, Marcus resides just outside Asheville, NC. He enjoys the beauty of Western NC and spends time outdoors with his three dogs. He advocates for trying new activities that he’s likely to be bad at. A lifelong martial arts enthusiast, he views them as pathways for improvement and ego confrontation. In his free time, he trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, or wrestling. He loves food, cooking, and almost all sports. If you’re around him, expect references to the latest podcast episode he finds intriguing.