Licenses and Requirements
My name is Trish Watson and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor. Since earning my Master of Arts in Counseling Degree and LPC license, I have invested in many specialized trainings like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Internal Family Systems, and Gottman Level 1 Couples work. I am also informed in Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy which treats the anxious-avoidant relationship traps, as well as receiving further education around narcissism and other personality disorders to identify and treat emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse.
Having the Texas State license to practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor, means I have achieved all the required master’s level counseling classes, the clinics and required research during graduate school, passed the exams, and then completed the 3,000 hours under supervision (like a residency) and follow the Texas statutes to make sure you are given the best care.
Completing a graduate degree in counseling requires rigorous coursework to comprehend, appreciate, and become competent in the many things that can affect human development and cause dysfunction. A counseling graduate degree includes class work in normal human growth and development, abnormal human behavior, assessment and appraisal, research and statistics, lifestyle and career development, counseling theories and techniques, professional ethics, patterns of change in social, culture, and family issues and systems, group dynamics, as well as specialized classes of interest in family systems, crisis and trauma, and internships to practice and gain experience counseling.
Why I help
My life growing up was not the easiest, and counseling helped me through that time and other challenging times in my life. Therapy was a lot different when I was a teen. I received some help through really painful times, and the call to help others as a counselor gave me some purpose, but I also felt I should wait to pursue counseling after I had more life experiences. Now I have many years of personal experiences, and despite my childhood was able to become successful by focusing on education and having a high work ethic. Additionally, I have almost two decades of marriage, and three children while juggling a demanding career, and finally making the difficult decision to give up my first career to stay home after my third child. When my youngest entered preschool I began transitioning again, pursuing my counseling graduate degree and starting over in a new career. Unfortunately, I also endured several physical and relational losses during that time. Hopefully the combination of learning through all of those experiences help me provide better, more sensitive, empathetic, educational, and beneficial services than I felt I received sometimes.
Formal Education
Consequently, I went back to graduate school to become fully equipped to counsel with the upmost care and skill possible. I attained a Master’s in counseling from B.H. Carroll Theological Institute that included the required classes aforementioned, and also required many additional spiritual classes in Biblical interpretation, doctrine and theology, Christian servant leadership, and more specific classes diving deep into many books of the Bible. These extra classes enabled me to confidently reconcile the parts of my walk and needed boundaries around idealism, or vague, unhelpful Christian exhortations, and verses being misused. This content was deeper than any certification in spiritual abuse a lot of counselors might receive in a weekend or two. The religious coursework helped free me from being influenced by common inaccurate interpretations and uses of the Bible (and other group think pressures in different cultures, organizations, and systems), giving me freedom to access a more abundant life.
God is wise and wants us to be wise as well, with instructions “Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves.” and warns us to always be alert for your enemy. freely to those who seek it, not tearing down boundaries, concern and I can respect those boundaries. However, even though gaining confidence in interpreting and evaluating different teaching, growing my relationship with Jesus, and reconciling my Christian faith was important to me. Going through this process of analyzing and thoroughly evaluating belief systems is helpful to gain understanding where value systems come from, our ethics and morals, being comfortable with what you believe, and how to be more comfortable discussing and relating to the complexity of worldviews we really live in.
I understand this is not how all people want to relate to the world often because of a history of being coerced or manipulated by teachings in the scripture, with people who believe they have good intentions. Religion, idealism, and extreme cultures often normalize mistreatment, taking advantage of people, and intellectualizing away necessary concerns. Legalism often tries to spiritually bypass our intuition and feelings (what God gave us for our alarm system and protection), and reduce human rights and equality.
Post Grad Training
I am a continuous learner. I am always on the look out to develop my skills better and for additional effective evidence-based interventions that synthesize well to round out and create a highly adaptable treatment experience. Learning across multiple approaches helps strengthen the parts that work, fill in gaps in each, and identify and address areas that may not be as helpful under certain circumstances. Expanding my learning has also helped me see how therapy can be manipulated.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy was the first training I invested my time in because of the many coping skills it is known to offer and help clients in their emotional states. Being able to choose the right tool for the right time, practice them well, and remember them when they are necessary, is about good training and repetition.
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) was the training I looked forward to the most, because it helped me receive the necessary healing I needed after I was rear-ended and very weary of driving. I was shocked at how fast and effective EMDR was for me, and the additional resources were completely different and deeper than anything I had experienced before. I wasn’t just talking myself out of my anxiety and fear of intersections. EMDR reminded all of me that I was a good enough driver. The training I did with EMDR unveiled multiple aspects of developing resources, processing the past mentally and emotionally, emotional regulation tools, and strong trainings for future events.
I then dove into learning Attachment theory. It was extremely popular because of the patterns that are so commonly seen and deeply felt in relationships. I was hesitant because from what I had learned so far, I thought anxious attachment, ambivalent, and avoidant styles were set during childhood, but learned they are not set in stone. Internal Family Systems is a great intervention to calm the anxious, lonely, fearful, warring, numb, defeated, and dissociating parts with self-energy and awareness. The IFS approach helps focus the therapy to do deep inner healing where needed, rather than focusing just on communication or superficial changes.
Couples and Family counseling has been the most complex to implement with multiple reactors and lengthy histories clashing in one session. Gottman Level 1 training was a good introduction and highly informative to understand the foundation of a good relationship. I felt it needed to be supplemented to address manipulation and personality disorders like narcissism or abuse. Couples therapy is a contraindication for systems where there is a pattern of psychological, emotional, or physical abuse.
Regular couple’s therapy, which usually treats both clients as equally contributing to the environment, can be weaponized when any type of regular abuse is present. Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy approach comes equipped to address extreme unevenness that is often found when one is not “receptive to correction.” However, even with RLT, rampant misuse (abuse) cases still might not fare well.
Collaborative Counseling
I want to provide a safe and honest atmosphere for you. I will listen attentively and actively to you, and help you focus on different aspects of the situation that might help or be affecting you. You may see more aspects of what is happening, and therefore feel less stuck. Working towards fully describing your story could help you notice and appreciate what strengths you bring to the table. Having new mindsets and tools can bring more hope of attaining the outcomes you want. I believe interactive counseling can help clients more; so I share what I think might be helpful and relevant to your situation, and let you decide if it fits. I’ll answer questions you may have, and work to find answers on new material to me; not just continuously turn the question back on you. I welcome feedback if something bothers you, so we can get clarity and safety again. I want you to remain in control of your therapy and goals. If your situation is continuously difficult or burdensome, I am a patient and enduring supporter and encourager and can help it be more tolerable.