Elizabeth Arredondo, MA, LPC-S | Director
Elizabeth’s nineteen years of extensive experience and training have well qualified her to work with a diverse client population, and to supervise and train early career therapists. Additionally, she serves as a professional and forensic consultant within her areas of expertise.
Elizabeth began her career working with children on the autism spectrum, providing behavioral therapy and parent training. This passion for serving children led her to a position as clinical director for a non profit residential treatment center for abused children and adolescents. From there, she transitioned into a private practice setting, where she provided counseling for children, adolescents, and adults with a wide variety of diagnoses and struggles. Seeing families in their entirety, she began to more fully recognize the impact of family dynamics on developmental processes. This sensitivity and curiosity led her to extensive training and and research in family focused forensic psychology, with specialization and certification in parenting facilitation and coordination.
Presently, Elizabeth works as director of Houston Family Counseling, where she ensures that all clients, young and old, receive the quality of mental health care she believes should be available to all. She oversees on site training programs for counseling graduate students, post masters interns, and post doctoral psychologists. Elizabeth also serves as a court appointed parenting facilitator and coordinator for Harris and surrounding counties, helping parents in high conflict situations navigate co-parenting. When not overseeing or engaging in direct client care, Elizabeth provides consultation for organizations wishing to incorporate counseling services into their offerings, and to therapists venturing into private practice. Lastly, Elizabeth continues to enjoy providing counseling services to adolescents and adults struggling with identity, self esteem, relationships, parenting, and adjustment to major life changes.
Associations
- American Counseling Association
- American Psychological Association
- Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Samantha Morel, Ph.D | Post-Doctoral Resident &
Assistant Director of Psychological Assessment
Supervised by Susan Pollard, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist
Dr. Morel has spent the last decade training in the latest psychological assessment and therapeutic techniques, preparing to serve effectively in a multitude of roles. She graduated with her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Purdue University, and most recently, completed a yearlong pre-doctoral internship at Texas A&M University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (both APA accredited). Having worked in private practice, community mental health, college counseling centers, and assessment clinics, Dr. Morel's varied clinical experiences have provided a strong and wide-ranging foundation of clinical skills. Also, after working in Louisiana, New York City, Indiana, and now Texas, she has developed a value for practicing with the utmost respect for diversity and social justice.
Given her specific interest in comprehensive evaluation, Dr. Morel has sought opportunities, including training rotations in assessment and focused doctoral practicums in psychological testing, to hone these skills. In her assessment work, Dr. Morel utilizes a humanistic approach which emphasizes viewing the client as a whole person, full of strengths and struggles. Striving to create a personalized testing experience for each client, she utilizes various tools to explore the concerns they are most curious about to ensure each client's unique needs are addressed. Finally, she prides herself in providing assessment feedback in a clear and understandable way that will help her clients to reach their goals moving forward.
As a therapist, Dr. Morel believes what has happened to us in life matters, and understanding a client's unique history can serve to make sense of what’s going on right now. She approaches counseling with a core conviction that therapy is not solely about solving problems but, rather, providing an accepting space where clients feel supported through challenging life experiences. She aims to help clients develop and meet their own goals, grow in their self-awareness, connect to their emotions, practice acceptance/meaning-making as they see fit, create healthy relationships in their personal lives, and most importantly, build resilience for the future. In an effort to meet each client where they are, and to support their individual journey, Dr. Morel strives to be as collaborative as possible. Having worked with clients of all ages and backgrounds, she understands the importance of developing a solid relationship and has a unique ability to engage people in therapy, including children and adolescents.
Associations:
- American Psychological Association
Alexis Croffie, Ph.D., LPC
Alexis' relentless pursuit of the best counseling techniques to serve his clients makes him a perfect fit for the team at Houston's Family Counseling. After he completed a master's in mental health counseling, he took his thoughtfully cultivated clinical skill set a step further, and went on to obtain a PhD in counselor education from Texas Tech University. Alexis realized that many clients are misunderstood because of their culture, their religion, their age, or their sexual orientation, and so he focused his research and his experience on learning to understand those who often feel alone. Not surprisingly, he found another often misunderstood population drawn to him and he to them - teenagers!
Alexis' clinical experience is broad, as he has worked both in inpatient settings, and in counseling centers serving families over the last five years. He approaches individuals, couples, and families from a Gestalt perspective, helping them see more clearly what is happening in their lives, rather than interpreting experiences based on their historical patterns or events. This kind of work is especially beneficial for those who are entering a new chapter in their life - a change in culture, relationship, school, career, or family.
Associations:
- Texas Counseling Association
- Texas Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors
- International Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (journal editor)
Jana McLain, Ph.D., LPC-S
Houston Family Counseling is so fortunate to have an expert like Dr. McLain in our practice. Not only does she have over a decade of experience as a counselor in elementary and secondary schools, she has worked in private practice, served as a professor of counseling, and as a clinical supervisor and advisor for both school and mental health counselors.
Dr. McLain specializes in working with school aged children and adolescents whose behavioral or emotional difficulties are significantly interfering with their development and success. Some of her clients are unable to attend school in a traditional setting, or are not benefiting from their educational experiences because of their disruptive behavior or emotions. Many of her clients struggle with parent relationships and/or connections with siblings and peers.
Using evidence based practices, Dr. McLain engages children, teens, and parents by setting achievable counseling goals and forging a supportive therapeutic relationship with each client. She practices from a humanistic perspective, seeing each individual as a whole person, full of both struggles and strengths. She works to uncover and capitalize on these sometimes hidden advantages, capture motivations, and build on successes.
Associations:
- Texas Counseling Association
- American School Counselor Association
- Texas School Counselor Association
Lizz Calderon, MA, LPC
Lizz works with children, teens and adults from a perspective that acknowledges the tremendous impact family has on people's emotional and relationship patterns. Her experience at a large church counseling center has prepared her to appreciate all the moving parts of a family. She has specialized training in Theraplay, a way of working with children in ways they relate to the important adults in their lives. Lizz is also well versed in helping divorced families as they seek to establish and maintain healthy relationships with their children and co-parents.
Lizz especially enjoys providing therapy for adolescents and young adults, helping them overcome relationship struggles, anxiety, grief, loss, and depression. She engages easily with teens, creating a safe and relaxed atmosphere in which they feel comfortable sharing their struggles, and are encouraged to make changes that lead to healthier living.
Associations:
- American Counseling Association
Tammie Johnson, MA, LPC-Intern
supervised by
Sarah Elizabeth Arredondo, MA, LPC-S
When Tammie walks into the counseling office, she brings with her 18 years of experience working with children with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Her time as a behavior interventionist, and then as an instructional specialist for special education teachers have uniquely prepared her for the counseling career she is so passionate about. She can engage children quickly, getting to the heart of what drives their behaviors, whether that is fear, trauma, family conflicts, or diagnosed or undiagnosed emotional difficulties. Tammie knows, from helping teachers craft interventions for children, that treating young people requires a team effort. She thoughtfully includes parents and other important adults in each client's life to bring about change in ways that can be lasting and meaningful.
Tammie holds a bachelors degree in Special Education and a masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She has augmented her substantial education with certification in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), allowing her to provide up -to -the -minute interventions for children and adolescents who have experienced or witnessed a trauma. She also is well versed in the popular Coping Cat program for treating anxiety and phobias in young people.
Associations:
- American Counseling Association
- Chi Sigma Iota International Counseling Honor Society
Elise Nelius, MA, LPC-Intern
supervised by
Greg Curnutte, MAMFC, LPC-S
Elise’s counseling practice is focused on working with adolescents and young adults. She knows from her research in college and graduate school student experiences that these stages of life are foundational. Decisions made and relationships built during these years set the tone for healthy or unhealthy adult choices. Elise has seen how easily negative patterns can play out in her work in an inpatient behavioral health organization, and at a women’s counseling center. She also has had the privilege of working with young people at Houston’s First Baptist Church’s counseling center and seeing them make lasting changes. Elise education and training in the integration of faith and psychology has given her special insight into helping people of all ages understand how their spirituality is inextricably intertwined with their emotional well-being. 
Associations:
- Psi Chi- the honor society for psychology
Cecilia Puczek, BS, Marriage and Family Therapy Student Intern
Cecilia is currently completing her masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She works at Houston Family Counseling as a counseling student intern, providing therapy under supervision, and teaching all of the more seasoned clinicians about the latest and greatest therapy techniques available. Cecilia completed her practicum (a student’s first clinical training) with Houston Family Counseling, and so impressed the staff with her enthusiasm for learning, her compassion for her clients, and her raw talent, that we invited her back for internship. Cecilia helps us serve more of our community by providing her services at a significantly reduced fee, and also by being bilingual, and able to provide therapy to clients who speak Spanish.
Although Cecilia’s training focus is in marriage and family counseling, she is well-equipped to provide counseling to members of the family individually, from children through older adults. Also, though she works with people of all faiths and backgrounds, she has special training and experience helping people incorporate their Christian faith into the work they do toward changing their relationships.
Cecilia works with clients from a family systems perspective, knowing that both remote and current family relationships influence how people feel about themselves and relate to others. Her ways of conceptualizing cases are particularly useful to those suffering in their relationships, their identity, and their sense of purpose.
Associations:
- American Association of Christian Counselors
Aaron Bunker, MA, LPC
After obtaining his masters degree in counseling, Aaron completed a post-masters internship at a large, non-profit counseling center. There, he served on the Family Team, a group of clinicians committed to collaborating to help family members strengthen relationships. He quickly learned that he was most talented in and passionate about working with couples. Desiring to be the best couples therapist he could be, he completed additional training in working with both married and dating couples. He is certified to provide couples assessments in the Prepare Enrich program, which helps partners identify their relationship strengths and weaknesses. Aaron also completed Gottman method training. John Gottman is the premier researcher on marital success, satisfaction, and therapy.
As Aaron began to focus his time in the therapy room with couples, he learned that a large percentage of these people struggled with sexual issues. Continuing with his theme of offering the best to every client, he embarked on a course of rigorous post-graduate education to become a certified sex therapist. Not only is he uniquely prepared to help couples improve their physical intimacy, he works with individuals with struggles related to their sexuality, their sexual past, or their sexual functioning.
All of Aaron's training and education has carried with it thoughtful integration of current mental health treatment and Christian faith. Although he is well able to provide services to people of all religious backgrounds, he has unique insight and sensitivity to lend to Christians as they wrestle with their relationships and their sexuality. He poured many of his insights and much of his training into a powerful book about marriage, "A Stronger Knot."
Associations:
- American Counseling Association
- Texas Counseling Association
- American Association of Christian Counselors
