Shermelia’s Bio

My passion for counseling was rooted in my experience with at risk youth from my childhood to my career in education. I saw the importance of being seen and heard and addressing the individual’s needs to attain success versus expecting rote societal compliance. Transitioning to being a therapist from a school based educator was a direct response to understanding that we must first address our lived experience and individual needs to see how that informs our present circumstances and future goals; so that we can achieve our goals while also having autonomy regarding the pathway we choose to get there. As a Christian counselor, I am able to use the Bible as the standard of truth against anything the world would have us to believe. We have a natural inclination to be motivated for success when we understand that our behaviors, even the ones we’d like to change, have an underlying root of survival. Therefore we can use those same survival skills and resilience to overcome our challenges in life whether its trauma, addiction, self-esteem or relationships. I use a variety of therapeutic approaches from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Solution Focus and Reality Therapy, as well as being Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) trained to help create your treatment plan for success.

“A wise man is strong, And a person of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in an abundance of counselors there is victory.” Proverbs 24:5-6

Professional Timeline

2001-2015 High School Science Teacher

2012 MS in Counseling from UNT

2021-present LPCA (Licensed Professional Counselor Associate)

2022-present LCDC (Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor)

2023-EMDR Training Parts I & II Completed