Dr. Lea McMahon, LPC, Ed.DChief Operating and Clinical Officer

Lea earned her Bachelor's degree from McNeese State University in 2002, followed by a Master's degree in 2005 and a Doctorate of Education from Argosy University in 2013. She holds active Licensed Professional Counselor credentials in both Texas and Louisiana. In addition to her clinical practice, Lea has taught psychology, humanities, and organizational leadership courses as a faculty member at Columbia College since 2013, reflecting her commitment to developing the next generation of behavioral health professionals.

Lea's career in addiction treatment began during her graduate internship in outpatient settings, where she observed a significant gap between the training required to treat mental health conditions and the standards applied to substance use treatment. That insight drove her to pursue leadership roles where she could raise the standard of care from the inside. She advanced from therapist to compliance officer to the C-suite, holding Corporate Compliance Director positions at both Elements Behavioral Health and Groups Recovery Together before joining Symetria. At Groups, she led the organization's transition to an all-virtual care model during the COVID-19 pandemic. At Symetria, she spearheaded the adoption of a harm reduction philosophy that now defines the organization's clinical identity.

Lea designed and built the clinical philosophy that Symetria uses today. She works with each new hire to ensure the Symetria philosophy is communicated and adopted to protect the overall integrity and fidelity of the Symetria clinical model. Her approach to treatment centers on patient autonomy: she believes that people deserve to set their own recovery goals in an environment free of judgment and punishment. For Lea, understanding why a person uses matters far more than whether they use, because that understanding is what opens the door to lasting change.

Lea's dedication to this work is personal. She has lost loved ones to addiction, and that experience fuels her commitment to ensuring every patient at Symetria receives care grounded in dignity, respect, and evidence.