CRT Counseling Dallas, Texas
My Passion for Psychotherapy
Hello I’m Kelly Coutee
Seeing the best in people and drawing them out from behind their shame has been a part of who I am and why I chose to be a therapist. My undergraduate degree was in the field of nursing and it was a natural progression to seek my Masters in Psychology from TWU.
About Lee
Lee Tipton LPC
At any point in our lives we will encounter situations that require emotional coping skills that we may have used in the past and can be adapted to the present. Human beings by nature are able to adapt to extremely disturbing situations in our lives by using survival strategies that got us through childhood and adolescence.
Sometimes those skills we learned during our youth to protect ourselves, no longer serve us well, especially when it comes to forming relationships in adulthood.
We may have developed emotional defenses that interfere with being in loving, intimate, committed and trusting relationships with others.
We may have learned to manage our emotions in healthy or maladaptive ways. Child-like behaviors including defensiveness, excuse making and blaming others for circumstances we have brought on ourselves, often express themselves when we are overwhelmed by loss, failure, shame and guilt.
Not taking ownership for the life we’ve created can be a way of life or maybe a temporary regression.
In many cases, there may be genetic inheritance of mood disorders (such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, panic attacks) that may have been present in our parents and grandparents lives causing years of untreated misery, anger and loneliness in their lives that went untreated.
If we are willing to face our fears, we can unlearn old lessons and develop new confidence in relationships with friends, family, coworkers and spouses. Like most life processes, it takes practice, patience and a network of supportive people to help us through it. Like grief or divorce, it takes 6-9 months to begin to feel periods of confidence and competence in the new self we are wanting to be. With 1-2 yrs of persistent mindful commitment to change, we can move on with our new selves.
I work with people going through life changes, learning new relationship skills, breaking patterns of repeated relationship dysfunction and who may need diagnosis and referral to medical providers for medication for depression, anxiety, insomnia, guilt and shame. I partner with clients as a sounding board, safe place to express feelings, as a consultant, listener and collaborator for creating life change.
A little about my education, training and experience
the field of mental health was not in my lifelong plans. While working on a BS in nursing, an opportunity to work in a private psychiatric hospital opened for me. from there I spent most of my 10 years in psychiatry at Baylor University, then completing my Graduate work at Texas A&M Commerce. In 1995 I joined CRT Counseling and began private practice. My graduate degree emphasized Family Systems Theory, and my postgrad internship was in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I later trained for two years in brief solution focused therapy and in 2011 I completed training in EMDR to increase my effectiveness with clients whose emotional trauma was more resistant to conventional psychotherapy. i enjoy working with individuals with anxiety and depression and with couples. Marital therapy is a supremely difficult undertaking and why I enjoy it so much is a mystery.