Talk & Play Counseling

TALK & PLAY COUNSELING nancy RENEE' smith, MS National Certified Counselor #1729370 Texas: Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate: Lic #93509 Supervisor: Stenet Palmer Frost, LPC-S State of Washington: Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate: License # 61541170 Supervisor: Brent Potter TEXAS Education Agency: Certified EC-12th Counselor and Educator I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate in Texas and Washington State, a National Certified Counselor, Certified School Counselor and a Certified Educator. In the 1990's, I earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UT-Tyler, then in 2008, a Master's Degree in Counseling from Texas A&M - Commerce. For over 25 years, I've worked with kids, teens, & parents/caretakers from ages 4 through 19. I also work with adults, parents, as well as co-parenting due to divorces. My clients experience various types of problems and often find themselves struggling to keep "it altogether". These problems affect children, teens & parent's emotions and behaviors. Young people often don't understand their feelings, know how to express them appropriately and feel as if no one is listening. Parents become frustrated & before long arguments, disrespect, low-grades, disobedience, etc. quickly arise, which negatively impacts all involved. A counselor can help everyone learn how to effectively communicate, truly listen to each other and discover solutions. Skills that may be used now and in the future. It's important to remember that growing up and parenting isn't easy and both experience conflicts, stress & heartaches. When you add social media influences, bills, job & school expectations, inflation, evolving family structures... whew, life quickly becomes overwhelming. Just by talking with an unbiased person and discussing your issues brings hope, awareness, problem-solving, solutions and a peace-of-mind. My sessions are conversational, activity based & thought provoking. Our first session or two, we'll work to establish a counselor/client relationship, we'll explore what brought you to therapy and what you want to gain from the process. Each client is unique, so I integrate Person-Centered techniques with Cognitive Behavior, Reality & Solution-Focused techniques. It's important to understand that counseling isn't necessarily the fastest way, it is a journey and it takes all involved to actively participate in order to achieve success. Clients must be willing to self-reflect, listen and change. Change is often difficult, but it is necessary when desiring different outcomes. The outcome is priceless.