Meet April Givens of Urban Counseling Clique

Today we’d like to introduce you to April Givens.

April, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Dallas, TX and grew up in Alexandria, LA. with my mom. I received my Bachelors of Science Degree in Biology from the University of LA at Monroe. I decided to go into counseling after taking a histology class in undergraduate and couldn’t dissect a live rat. The professor had to come over to my group and cut open the rat for us. My major was Biology pre-med and I was on track to go to medical school and after that class, I reconsidered whether I could actually work on cadavers.

After graduation, I took two years off and contemplated what I wanted to do. I moved to Dallas to be closer to my dad and for better opportunities. in the meantime, I got pregnant with my son while working in the corporate world. I was always a helper, giving people advice, listening with an empathetic ear, loving to be around and engage in conversation with people. I went through a tough relationship when I was pregnant with my son. Everything was great initially then I moved in with my son’s father and the differences were apparent.

We argued and at 8 months pregnant he put me out and I went to go stay with my cousin in Forney, TX until my baby was born. My dad lived in Dallas but I chose not to stay with him because of the conflict between me and my stepmother at the time. After my son was born I went back to Louisiana where my mom lives and stayed for seven months. While in Louisiana going through post-partum depression I decided to enroll in the Master’s Program through Capella University. My son was 2 weeks old when I begin taking classes to become a mental health counselor. I wanted to help people who have experienced what I had gone through.

After seven months there my son’s father wanted to work things out so we moved back to Dallas and in with him. I started back working in corporate America but I worked from home so my son stayed with me at home while I worked and attended school online. The relationship was okay when I moved back and my son’s father purchased a home in Mesquite. This was doing the time the housing market was screwed up and he got more house than he could actually afford. The challenges begin again with his lack of responsibility not paying the mortgage, waiting for the lights to get shut off before he paid the bill to get them back on. I was beyond stressed at the time.

Long story short the house went into foreclosure, we broke up, and me and my son moved into our own apartment and that was my new beginning. I began being a single mother with motivation to succeed because I had to take care of my son. Fast Forward, I graduated with honors 3.7 GPA with my Master’s degree in Mental Health counseling and took the test to become licensed with the state of Texas and passed and began working my internship to become licensed. This is when I started working at a domestic violence shelter and truly started implementing my counseling skills.

I worked with so many women who have gone through so much in their life. It was like a lifetime movie. This is when I knew someday I wanted to have my own practice so I can help families, women, and children. I purchased my first home in 2012 and later met another man who I thought at the time was my prince charming. I so wanted badly to be married and have a family and I thought this was finally going to happen. He was a kind, generous, and caring person and he was great with my son. I completely gave him my all and started to do so much for him. He got to the point that he called me to ask can you get this done or what do you think about this and how do I do this.

I started to feel drained after a while because I was focusing so much on helping him that the things I wanted to do were falling behind. I later found out about the infidelity on his part and realized he was a womanizer. He was charming and women generally liked him. I was going to end the relationship when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. We decided to stay together and work things out after he apologized and said he would not cheat again. After my daughter turned one I found out he was again in a relationship with not one woman but two women. I left him alone for good that time and begin to pick up the pieces by focusing on me and staying positive and raising my two children.

I begin working on my Ph.D. and after completing all coursework I am now writing my dissertation and working on data collection. I could have let what happen in my relationships beat me down but I realize my higher purpose and understand first and foremost if God is on my side the devil can’t do me any harm. I will not say it wasn’t hard because it was but I knew I had to keep pushing. After working several places to include shelters, abortion clinic managed care behavioral health organizations, and the courts I decided to open my own private practice. I still worked at other counseling companies while I started to build my practice and later left to work in my practice full time after being credentialed with many insurance panels and contracting with foster care agencies, and building a referral base from primary care clinics in the area.

I later formed Urban Counseling Clique into a 501 c3 nonprofit organization and group practice so I can build a solid practice with more counselors that have a similar approach to mine when interacting with clients. We want to promote advocacy for mental health, bullying, and suicide prevention. We have recently partnered with Hear my Cry Foundation for suicide prevention to create an advocacy campaign to educate the community on coping skills for mental health, preventing teen suicide, and to end bullying. I believe my life’s experiences has truly prepared me to be the type of counselor I am today.

I believe a combination of education and life experiences has made me an effective counselor with proven results. My counseling approach is considered “real”. I talk to my clients straightforward and challenge them to set the pace to make changes in their lives. I provide them with the tools to move forward and stay the course. I use cognitive behavioral techniques and solution-focused therapy along with reality therapy. I believe in positive psychology and using affirmations daily to promote positive thinking. I wanted to be transparent in my story and share the challenges I have experienced so others can know that it is not where you start but where you finish. My journey is not complete.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently
I definitely would have listened more along the way but I think everything has prepared me for where I am now. I do believe everything happens for a reason.

Contact Info:

• Address: 8330 LBJ Freeway Suite B616 Dallas, TX 75243
• Website: Urbancounselingclique.com
• Phone: 9729148705
• Email: info@urbancounselingclique.com

 
Image Credit:
Lawrence Suldon

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