I am a Masters level, Texas licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in individual, marriage, and family therapy as a private practitioner at Christian Counseling Associates. I earned my Bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK and my Master’s degree in counseling and therapy from ORU as well. I also did some Master of Divinity work while at ORU. While you see already that I have as an essential (and unapologetic) part of my practice, a decidedly Christian charter, I also see folks who tell me they do not prefer to do session work with references to Christianity, or prayer, or the Bible. I honor those requests and have done effective work with non-Christian couples and individuals as the case may be.
For those folks who do want to incorporate their Christian faith into the work we do together, I am also recognized by my church as an ordained evangelical minister, and currently hold the office of Minister of Counseling at my local church in McKinney. I use established state of the art couples therapies, Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Narrative Therapy, basic Neurofeedback therapy, and integrated biblical principles to help my clients achieve their desired change goals.
I am a husband of 40 years to the love of my life, Mrs. Shirley. She has taught me how to love, how to be empathic, and how to lead our home with wisdom as much or more than any other formal training I’ve ever had! I’m a father of four wonderful adult children, and granddad to 5 (and counting) wonderful grandchildren. Thanks to the Grace of God, we are all thriving and doing well!
As other life experience, I was a mid-level manager/leader/trainer for a Fortune 50 consumer goods company for 31 years in a “prior life.” That life experience has helped me understand people better and was in my view, a good preparation for me to re-invent myself a decade ago when I entered into this “new life” as a therapist, doing Pastoral counseling, and now additionally, licensed counseling.
Presently, as a counselor, I work with adolescents, adult males and females, married couples, and families, Pastors and Church officials, and also have conducted seminars and workshops related to marriage strengthening, psychotherapy, and “self-reinvention.” I believe in the power of prayer, and the power of God’s Word. But I will meet you where you are, in order to help you get to where you want to be.
Professional Organizations and Memberships
- Gottman Level I Relationship Therapy certification
- Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
- EMDR Trained by EMDRIA certified instructor – Level I and Level II, DeTur Trained
- American Board of Christian Sex Therapy- Clinical Fellow
- Post-Graduate Work in Christian Sex Therapy – Currently a Sex Therapy Intern
- Ordained Minister – Genesis Church, McKinney, TX
- Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator Practitioner
- Christian Counselors of Texas- Member
- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists- Clinical Fellow