All Services Offered:
- ADD/ADHD Testing for Adolescents and Adults
- ADD/ADHD Coaching
- Adoption: Assessments for parents seeking Adoption, Infertility issues, Adoptive Families
- Couples Counseling: Relationship Issues whether for Married, Unmarried, Straight, Gay, or Mixed-Orientation Couples
- LGBTQ+ Issues
- Mixed-Orientation Marriages
- Sexual Identity/Orientation
- Abandonment Issues
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder
- Depression
- Anxiety or Fears
- Divorce
- Life Coaching/Law of Attraction
- Performance Anxiety
- Stress Management
- Psychological Evaluations
Learn the “Top Three Reasons Couples Seek Psychotherapy.”
Learn “Tips for Creating Healthy Relationships.”
Professional Testimonials
It has been my true joy and privilege to have worked so closely with Dr. Denise Humphrey over the past several years. So many of my patients that I have referred to Dr. Humphrey are relieved to find her professional approach is so personable and comforting, and she is so “normal”. She combines her extraordinary personal skills with highly refined professional talents to bring tremendous benefit to her clients. I would fully endorse Dr. Denise Humphrey as one of my top referrals for individual and couples counseling work.”
~ Barry K. Knezek, M.D. 12810 Hillcrest Rd, Suite B120 Dallas, TX 75230
I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Denise Humphrey at UTD, Galaxy Counseling Center and now as a trusted colleague in private practice consultation. Dr. Denise Humphrey is a genuine, warm, caring clinician and person. She exudes a sense of calm and wisdom that is such a gift to her clients and colleagues. She has developed additional expertise in working with couples in crisis, and her compassion and skills provide an instrumental base to guide them.”
~ Dr. Antonia Guerra-Watson
More Details in a Few Areas of Experience:
I have completed Advanced Couples Training from the Gottman Institute in Seattle, Washington. The Gottman Institute has been conducting therapeutic, assessment, and intervention research on couples and relationships since 1975. In addition to straight-married and non-married couples, Dr. Gottman’s research and results have also been applied to same-sex couples.
I work with all types of Marital/Relationship problems, whether related to communication difficulties, lack of a true “team” connection, infidelity, etc. I also am Gay-friendly and Gay-affirmative and adept at working with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as well as couples in mixed-orientation marriages (i.e., gay/straight marriages). All relationships are unique, and my treatment is tailored accordingly.
“Mixed-orientation marriage” refers to relationships in which one person is gay or lesbian, and the other person is straight. While society has become more accepting of gay couples, mixed-orientation relationships are less understood. When a gay spouse agonizes about disclosure, determining how to resolve the predicament can be petrifying. Upon divulging one’s homosexual orientation, profoundly traumatic issues for both partners usually arise, including loss of trust, depression, betrayal, shame, how or if to inform the children (if any), whether to remain together or depart, etc. Due to having experienced this marital condition, I have a true understanding in helping these individuals navigate the numerous complexities of this situation. You can read my book titled Memoirs of a Silent Exhibition: No More! It is found on the following websites: balboapress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com.
Also learn more in these articles, “Living with a Gay Spouse” and “Understanding Mixed-Orientation Marriages.”
I have received training in the ADD/ADHD from the ADD Coach Academy. About 4 percent of the world’s 6.5 billion people have ADHD. What’s more, research shows that 85 percent of people with ADHD are undiagnosed. People with ADHD face a range of debilitating symptoms including an inability to focus, chronic hyperactivity, forgetfulness, and impulsiveness that can negatively affect life at home, relationships, and work. One of the goals of ADHD coaching is to empower individuals to manage the unique challenges of their ADHD and maximize their strengths.
If you or someone you care about struggles with the challenges of ADHD, it can be like riding a volatile wave in the ocean. You never really know where the current is going to take you. But by understanding your ADHD, you can discover your special gifts and talents that brings your uniqueness to light!
The stories individuals with ADHD tell themselves either immobilize or catalyze their progress. These stories are a reflection of beliefs that have been handed down to them and have never been challenged. They become the plot to their story and are converted into themes of “I’m broken, I can’t, I’m hopeless, I’m a failure,” or a host of other false negative perceptions. These negative stories are based on beliefs that have turned into a misguided perception that there is only one way to do things
Your brain is wired to do things in trillions of different ways. It is in that multitude of neurological options that your unique strengths and successful way of doing things are located. You are not broken. You are a divine individual with unique ways of doing things that can consistently lead you to your own ADHD Success Story.
This overall description of how ADHD coaching can launch your existing beliefs into a success story was written by David Giwerc, the founder and president of the ADD Coach Academy.
Abandonment is most easily described as a “primal fear” and “universal wound,” and includes an extensive array of symptoms, including unworthiness, insecurity, shame, emotional hunger, feelings of annihilation, self-sabotage, chronic emptiness, and repeated feelings of trauma. These symptoms are just an inkling of the emotions experienced by individuals with a history of abandonment. Some of the behaviors that emerge as a way to deal with these feelings include dependency and co-dependency issues in relationships, setting ourselves up for re-abandonment, and even self-medication through food, drugs, or alcohol.
Learn more about the symptoms of abandonment: “Do You Suffer from a Fear of Abandonment?” and “Understanding Abandonment.”
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychological issue that has been described by professionals as a “disorder of imagined ugliness.” BDD is a disorder characterized by a perceived defect or a minor flaw in one’s physical appearance that is obsessively worried about and compulsively checked, to the extent that it causes clinically significant distress or impairment in one’s social life, work life, or other areas of daily functioning. Although the official psychological diagnosis has been around for several years, it is often under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed by professionals due to lack of familiarity. Not all people who suffer from BDD seek repetitive surgeries to fix their perceived defect, but many do. If you have been preoccupied with thoughts about some area of your physical appearance, have sought several treatments, assume that people notice it and make fun of it, and sometimes restrict yourself from being comfortable in public, these might be some signs that you may be suffering with BDD. I work with individuals to help them overcome this disorder and learn to love and accept themselves.
Performance anxiety, or “stage fright,” can create fear in many people and in many situations, such as public speaking, social communication, public appearance, athletics, intimacy, and artistic performance. For example, symptoms such as shakiness, trembling, sweating, dry mouth and distraction can interfere with thinking and behavior, propelling musicians to lose focus on technical performance and begin to panic about their ability to continue. While some performance anxiety puts us in a fight or flight mode, it can also put us in a “freeze” mode.
Performance anxiety can be eased if the therapist has an understanding of what the symptoms are and how they were “installed.” This relates to family of origin issues, our social culture, knowledge of our “mind state” (which includes physiology, thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and emotions), and helping separate performance and identity.
Read more about overcoming performance anxiety in this article, “Tips for Overcoming Performance Anxiety.”
Please click on the Patient Forms page to locate the required background paperwork prior to counseling. These forms can be downloaded, filled out, and brought to your initial session, or can be completed in the office.
