Meet Kellie Garcia M.A., LPC-S, RPT™ | Counselor, Supervisor, and Registered Play Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kellie Garcia M.A., LPC-S, RPT™ and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kellie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started my business by taking a leap of faith. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and a Registered Play Therapist and have been providing counseling services to children, teens, and families since 2013. I started off my career working with an advocacy center with a focus on children who have experienced abuse and neglect. I worked in that specialty for 8 years. When the pandemic hit, it hit me hard. We had to move all of our therapy clients (including children) to virtual appointments and I did not work well with that. I fell into a sort of depression and something within me was shaken. I was the first counselor to go back to the office when we were able to, but a part of me made a decision in that time period that I had grown as much as I could in that position. Not much later, I went to an interview at a private practice in Flower Mound on a whim and accepted the job. It was a huge change being in the private practice world! I saw more kiddos with anxiety without trauma attached and I had to learn new ways of providing therapy. Ultimately, that organization was not a good fit and I decided “what the heck! I’m going to go for it!” And here we are! A little over a year later and I have my own business, pay my own office rent, do my own marketing, and my practice is thriving!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Being a counselor is hard. That’s just the plain old truth. Don’t get me wrong, it is the most rewarding job and as a counselor I have witnessed what I believe to be miracles, but being a counselor is heavy work and it is difficult to leave your work at work. Counseling pushes you to make changes within yourself. I had a supervisor once say “you can only take your clients as far as you can go yourself.” She is so wise and it is so true. As a counselor, you have to work on your own trauma to truly empathize and understand your client’s trauma. You have to work through your own anxieties to help your client heal theirs. If your client feels unworthy and you have not healed that part of you, you are guaranteed to get triggered.

I have grown so much and the growing has not and will not stop. This is a hard truth I had to accept to continue doing what I do. But it’s worth it. Working with children who have been abused and went through horrific trauma, you get disheartened pretty quickly. There is a lot of burnout in that work because the stories are overwhelming at times. But when you notice a child starting to speak up more, feel more confident, and be so brave to tell their story – it’s worth every ounce of heartbreak and every push inward to healing your own hurt.

I think what sets me apart from other counselors is my ability to work with children so well. The language of children, play, comes very natural for me since I’m a big kid at heart. I have such a passion for working with kiddos that I completed training to become a Registered Play Therapist™ and I even serve on the North Texas Chapter for the Association for Play Therapy! I’ve been dubbed by some as the “kid whisperer!” haha!

I want people to know that going to counseling or therapy is not a weakness – it’s a strength! It takes a lot of courage to dig deep and face your emotions and beliefs that have been tucked away and hidden for so long. There are so many options available today for affordable counseling. I always recommend going to see a therapist in person, but if that’s not possible there are virtual platforms available for almost every budget. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can text “741741” or call 988 to speak with a crisis counselor immediately. We, counselors, chose this job because we care and we WANT to help. Don’t be afraid to reach out!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Little D (Denton) and there are some amazing places to visit here! There is the historic downtown Denton square where you will find the old courthouse turned museum, the famous Recycled Books bookstore, and Beth Marie’s ice cream shop with the best ice cream ever. You can visit the Little Chapel at Texas Women’s University, go to a game at UNT’s Apogee Stadium, or visit the eccentric Chairy Orchard. If you want to travel a bit into the Big D (Dallas), my favorites are the Perot Museum, the Dallas Aquarium, and the Dallas Arboretum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my Shoutout to Cari Purdy, LPC-S, RPT-S who works at the Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas. When I think of who has impacted me the most as a counselor, Cari is that person. She is the best supervisor and colleague I ever had. She listened to me process things about my clients, vent about my anxieties about work and personal life, and supported me through periods of growth personally and professionally. She treated me like an equal, even though she way beyond more experienced than me and I never once felt small around her when I felt small around so many others (even when they did not intend for me to feel that way). I would not be who I am or the counselor I am today without her being in my life.

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