I am licensed in Texas and Wisconsin with over 8 years of professional clinical work and combined experience of 17 years in civil and social services. In addition, I am experienced in helping clients with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, family conflicts, & trauma and abuse. I assist my clients by creating an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. It takes courage to seek out a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. I am here to support & collaboratively work with you on increasing your quality of life. My ardent desire to educate those who are under-served and prone to traumatic encroachments on their basic human rights of self-advocacy, self-determination, accountability, restoration of power, and self-worth, is what drives me professionally. My group work, individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, and parent coaching experience qualifies me to clinically engage, assess, and collaborate with individuals and interdisciplinary teams on goal development, treatment planning, implementation of interventions, and evaluations.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Within our first session you can expect to build a therapeutic alliance that fosters an environment of transparency, accountability, and respect where you are the expert of your lived experiences yet you are open to exploring a shift in how such experiences impacts your life going forward.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
Abandonment, Adoption and Foster Care, Blended Family Issues, Control Issues, Divorce and Separation, Domestic Violence, Guilt and Shame, Infidelity, Intellectual Disability, Money and Financial Issues, Post-traumatic Stress, Self-Love, Sexual Assault and Abuse, Sexuality, Women's Issues, and Workplace Issues are all areas I specialize in. In addition, individual challenges with bullying and social acceptance of gender and/or sexual identity of adolescents and those with disabilities demand clinical competencies in healthy sexuality and self-advocacy. Therefore, I spearheaded Proud & Included, (the first project of its kind in the US) that focused on the intersection of LGBTQ and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities through self-advocacy and healthy sexuality training for Participants, inclusion training for LGBTQ+ organizations, access to resources and services, and participation in LGBTQ community events, uniquely qualifies me to clinically engage individuals in the LGBTQ community and/or those with disabilities on a therapeutic level that eliminates stigmas and fosters safety first.
About Marie A Gandy
Marie A Gandy offers therapy covered by UnitedHealthcare/Optum - Medicaid in Texas.
Specializes in
Serves ages
Accepts
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Trauma Informed Care
As a clinician, I utilize Carl Roger’s person-centered therapy. Rogerian theory empowers the client to be the expert in their life and story. This allows my clients to disclose, according to their comfort level, while continued rapport is being established. I utilize solution-focused therapy to collaborate with my clients on identifying problem areas, catalysts to change, and implementation of strategies to achieve such change. In addition, I am mindful of Maslow’s theory of human motivation while implementing interventions that ensure my client's safe transition through their hierarchy of needs. Lastly, I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a type of psychotherapy used to help people change thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are causing them problems. My clients engaged in various activities that focused on cognitive reframing as CBT highlights how negative thoughts can lead to negative feelings and actions but reframing such thoughts more positively encourages more positive feelings and helpful behaviors.