Dr. Casey Gutierrez

Hi everyone. Welcome! I am a Doctor of Philosophy in family therapy, and I am licensed as a professional counselor and licensed as a chemical dependency counselor in Texas. From a young age, all things mental health have been my passion. Difficult situations, such as my parents’ divorce and serving in the military have contributed to my desire to serve and help others. I consider the prospect of serving you and/or your family a true privilege. To some, psychotherapy represents a safe and supportive resource and to others, it can represent a scary or stressful treatment or intervention. Either way, by connecting with a psychotherapist, you are taking the first step in a beautiful journey to betterment. Most recently, I have worked for nine years as a psychotherapist and supervisor at a local non-profit. Prior to that I worked as a school counselor for public schools. My first full-time job was in the military where I worked for approximately ten years and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. These experiences have allowed me to better understand many challenges arising from family stress, couple dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, parenting, absent parents/family, family of origin, dangerous occupations, trauma, and human sexuality. I have worked with many complex cases and enjoy the challenge of improving lives for the better. As a couples therapist, I mainly utilize research, interventions, and exercises learned throughout my level 1 to 3 Gottman Method couples therapy training. I also leverage, when serving both couples and families, my doctoral training in systems, particularly, Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST). I believe that basic skills, such as listening, understanding, and building a strong therapeutic relationship to be required ingredients to all forms of therapy, regardless of the treatments, interventions, and/or guiding theories applied. For families with young children, I am able to help with parenting and family therapy. For families with children ages 2 to 8, in addition to BFST, I help by utilizing Child Centered Play Therapy and Child Parent Relationship Therapy concepts and interventions. My primary focus for families with young children is through play therapy. Just as talk therapy is for adults, play is the language of children. The language of play is one of the main components I teach and empower parents with while conducting family therapy.