Joan Davis

My name is Joan Davis. I am an LCSW in Texas, license number 59761. My approach to therapy derives from my family farm origin, living with 7 siblings and hardworking parents. Our lives are centered on the faith, attitude, and endurance that are necessary to survive the harshness of survival and depend upon the beauty of nature to sustain us. In my adult years, my husband and I have survived the loss of a 25-year-old business through the takeover led by a foreign entity and an unhappy employee. This business loss has led me to my true calling. The richness of the counseling relationship has opened my eyes to the joy of helping others realize their self-worth. It is my hope to facilitate the change in my client that serves to make his/her life more joyful and purposeful.

My approach

I believe in helping a person to find himself, first, through naming his sense of ethics and values he lives by. From there, we can understand what he/she needs and wants out of life. I work largely with forms of existential, person-centered, and motivational tools to engage my client and from there, we learn mindfulness and work with cognitive behavioral therapy to learn how to change how we think and process information. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) helps my client learn about feelings and how they originate from thoughts that originate from events. This understanding creates emotional regulation. My ultimate goal is that my client can bring his emotional mind together with his reasonable mind and form a wise mind.

My focus

I work with clients who have self-esteem issues. These tend to be related to all other conditions, such as anxiety, stress-related, life changes, and solution-focused issues. I work with mindfulness, cognitive behavior therapy, and emotion-focused therapy. I work with depression, life changes, problems involving aging, pain, grief, and childhood and adult trauma. I work with parent-child issues, family issues, marriage, and divorce issues. I also counsel marriage preparation as well as issues related to pre and post-abortion matters. I have worked with anger management, and generally, people's relationship problems, whether it be work, family, or friends. My clients tend to be young, middle-aged, and aging to perfection.

My communication style

I believe my clients feel comfortable, like talking to a very old friend whose advice feels right. I like to use some humor in our talks and, if acceptable, will invite some spirituality in. My clients seem to enjoy our sessions.

My journey to mental healthcare

As I said originally, the business loss drove me to realize my joy in helping others find their way in life. I enjoy people and want them to find their happiness, not in things, but in the beauty of what surrounds us as well as the people that share our lives. I want my clients to love themselves and know that love is the God-given gift we all have to walk through life and accomplish what our talents and hard work provide and live with joy.

My goals for you

We approach setting our goals together as they become known to us. This should begin happening in the second session.

My first session with you

It will be like meeting your good friend for the first time. We may jump right in or we may find your pace and slowly move in that direction. It will be very natural.