Stephanie Bowman Czeresko

Stephanie Czeresko moved to South Carolina from New York State and has lived in Columbia for 36 years. She has been a clinical mental health counselor for over 25 years and has worked with The Big Red Barn Retreat since 2015. She is the Director of PTG Services and lead Mental Health Specialist for Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.

She began her relationship with The Big Red Barn Retreat in 2015 offering Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning to Veterans, Active-Duty personnel and their families and continues to oversee the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy team. She has always appreciated the special bond between people and horses, believing this connection to have a unique therapeutic value.  In 2019, she took on the added responsibilities of overseeing other services provided at The Big Red Barn Retreat such as Art and Music Therapy, Healing Lens, Yoga and Tai Chi, TM classes and the Heroes Garden.

As a counselor, Stephanie has worked with Veterans and Active-Duty service members for more than two decades.  She has been honored to walk with those who are suffering from invisible wounds on a path of healing, restoration, and growth. She understands the importance of Trauma-Informed Care and is fully committed to helping others experience Post-Traumatic Growth.

While Stephanie has not personally served in the military, she is from a military family. Her father served briefly in the Air Force, her uncle is a retired Colonel with the Air Force, and her son is a Captain in the Maryland National Guard. He returned from his first deployment to the Middle East in February 2022. 

Stephanie graduated from Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY) with a degree in Business/Accounting. She worked for International Paper Company and became a CPA while working for Ernst & Young, one of the major accounting firms. From these experiences, she gained an appreciation for the complexities of large corporations. A desire to work more closely with individuals who were facing financial struggles led her to pursue a Masters in Clinical Counseling at Columbia International University (Columbia, SC). She has a private practice in Columbia called Pathways Growth & Learning Center, LLC. Stephanie is a firm believer that the varied paths that led us to where we are today are never wasted.

Stephanie is married to Paul Czeresko and lives in Little Mountain, SC. She has two amazing children; Josh, who attended The Citadel and works in the Washington, DC area and Abbie, who graduated from Johns Hopkins University and now attends Medical School at MUSC.