Uptown Dallas

You may love your partner deeply and still wonder how the two of you became so disconnected. Maybe conversations that once felt easy now turn into arguments, defensiveness, or silence. You keep having the same conflicts without resolving them, or you feel a growing “space between” you and the person who once felt closest to you. If you want to reconnect but aren’t sure how to get there, couples therapy can help you understand what is happening between you and begin creating something different.

I work with couples who want to better understand one another, break painful patterns of conflict, and rebuild emotional connection. Often, what looks like an argument about communication, responsibilities, intimacy, or another recurring issue has something deeper underneath it. I help partners slow down those interactions and understand the emotions, needs, fears, and beliefs driving the pattern so they can respond to each other differently.

My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and relationship-focused. I want both partners to experience therapy as a place where they can be honest, feel understood, and take the vulnerable risks necessary for meaningful change. Rather than deciding who is right or wrong, we work together to understand the relationship the two of you have created and how each of you can help close the unwanted “space between.” Love, trust, forgiveness, and emotional safety can be rebuilt when partners learn to show up differently for one another.

My clinical approach draws primarily from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and attachment theory. These approaches help couples understand how emotions and attachment needs influence conflict, identify beliefs that affect how they see themselves and their partner, and learn healthier ways to express what they need from one another. The goal is not simply to communicate better during therapy, but to create new patterns of connection that continue outside the therapy room.

For clients who want their Christian faith to be part of counseling, I also offer faith integration. My graduate training in both counseling and theology allows us to thoughtfully incorporate Christian beliefs, values, and spiritual concerns into therapy to the degree that you want them included. Faith integration is always based on the client’s preferences and is not required to work with me.

John Bautista is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in the state of Texas (#100806) under the supervision of Lauren Guenther, LPC-S (#71198). John earned both his Master’s in Counseling and Master’s in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is particularly passionate about helping couples move from disconnection toward greater understanding, vulnerability, trust, and emotional closeness.

You may find yourself overthinking conversations, questioning your decisions, struggling to feel confident in who you are, or repeating the same patterns in relationships even when you know they are not working. Maybe you are navigating a major life transition, trying to understand what you want from a relationship, or feeling caught between who you have been and who you want to become. Therapy can give you a place to slow down, understand what is happening beneath the surface, and begin making meaningful changes.

I work with young adults, individuals, and couples experiencing anxiety, perfectionism, self-esteem concerns, relationship difficulties, identity questions, and life transitions. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, I help clients understand the patterns they have developed, where those patterns may have come from, and whether they are still serving them. Together, we can work toward greater self-understanding while also developing practical ways to create change in your everyday life and relationships.

My approach is warm, collaborative, curious, and relational. I want you to feel genuinely seen and understood while also helping you move toward the changes that brought you to therapy. I use evidence-based approaches within a systemic framework, which means we may explore not only what is happening within you, but also how your relationships, family experiences, environment, and past have shaped the way you see yourself and connect with others.

For couples, conflict is often about much more than the issue you are arguing about. Repeated disagreements can reflect deeper patterns involving trust, emotional connection, communication, expectations, or the ways each partner responds when they feel hurt or disconnected. I help couples identify these patterns, communicate more effectively, strengthen their emotional connection, and create a relationship that feels more secure and fulfilling. My role is not to take sides, but to help both partners feel understood while developing a clearer picture of the relationship they are creating together.

I draw from the Gottman Method and the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, which incorporates attachment, differentiation, and an understanding of how relationships develop and change over time. I am currently completing Level 1 training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy.

Alana Donley is a master’s-level counseling intern completing her Master of Science in Counseling at Southern Methodist University, where she is pursuing training in both professional counseling and marriage and family therapy. She completed her practicum at the SMU Center for Family Counseling, providing counseling to individuals, couples, and groups. Alana is a scholarship recipient, an outstanding student nominee, and a member of Chi Sigma Iota, the counseling academic and professional honor society. She is also a student member of the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a member of Relational Therapists of Dallas.

Her clinical interests include couples and premarital counseling, anxiety, perfectionism, relationship concerns, young adulthood, life transitions, self-esteem, and identity development.

You may appear successful on the outside while feeling overwhelmed on the inside. Others see someone who is capable, dependable, and accomplished, but privately you wrestle with anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, burnout, or the feeling that you can never quite do enough. Perhaps your mind rarely slows down, you second-guess decisions, or you feel pressure to keep achieving even when you’re running on empty. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to navigate it by yourself.

I enjoy working with adults and couples who are facing anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, relationship concerns, career and academic pressures, and significant life transitions. Many of my clients are professionals, leaders, graduate students, healthcare providers, educators, or others who carry tremendous responsibility while quietly struggling beneath the surface. Together, we’ll work to better understand what’s keeping you stuck, develop practical tools for lasting change, and help you move forward with greater confidence, peace, and purpose.

My approach is warm, collaborative, and practical. I believe you are the expert on your own life, and my role is to provide a supportive space where you feel understood, challenged, and encouraged. I draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and the Gottman Method to help clients quiet the mental noise, overcome unhelpful patterns, strengthen relationships, and build lives that are more aligned with their values.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent many years serving in executive leadership, the information services and technology industries, higher education, military family advocacy, and nonprofit service. I also spent several years as a stay-at-home mother and community volunteer. These diverse experiences allow me to appreciate the unique challenges of leadership, demanding careers, military life, parenting, major life transitions, and the pressure of balancing multiple responsibilities. My goal is to combine practical wisdom with compassionate care to help clients build resilience, make confident decisions, and create meaningful, lasting change.

Margaret Dwiggins, PhD, is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Texas (#100973), supervised by Dr. Shannon Moseley, LPC-S, and Shannon Kouser, LPC-S. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology, with research focused on smartphone use, fear of missing out (FOMO), attention, and learning, providing her with unique insight into how digital overload, comparison, and constant distraction can affect focus, confidence, relationships, and emotional well-being. She also holds master’s degrees in Counseling, Psychology, and Business and is both a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and a Board Certified Coach.

I believe psychotherapy should be a transformational experience. We often get stuck in patterns of relating and being that, at one time, were adaptive and protective, but no longer help us to be our best selves. Psychotherapy helps to understand those patterns, develop strategies to disrupt them, and create new ways of being and relating that get us closer to our personal and professional goals. I strive to create an environment that is warm, nonjudgmental, collaborative, culturally sensitive, and challenging enough to explore and make necessary changes in areas of your life that we identify together as being important to address. I am an integrative therapist and draw from humanistic, cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and interpersonal modalities to help clients achieve symptom relief and lasting change.

Dr. Jennifer Fast was initially licensed as a clinical psychologist in Illinois in 2011 and has been a licensed clinical psychologist in Texas (#38062) since 2018. Additionally, she is PsyPact certified, qualifying her to provide psychological services across over 40 states in the US.

She has trained and worked in a variety of settings, including higher education, community mental health, and residential facilities. She graduated with her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and classical studies from Loyola University-Chicago. Dr. Fast’s areas of specialty include treatment of adults, young adults and adolescents, LGBTQIA+, trauma, crisis assessment, group psychotherapy, clinical supervision and training, business coaching, and community/organizational interventions. She provides treatment from a feminist and humanistic framework and integrates other evidence-based interventions to meet the individual needs and goals of clients. She is also trained and practices Discernment Counseling for couples on the brink of divorce. Dr. Fast views psychological and cognitive assessment as an empowering experience for clients and as an important adjunct to psychotherapy.

Before making Texas her home, Dr. Fast served as Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Health and Wellness at Lake Forest College. She was active as an area chair for the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education; served on the Lake County Sexual Assault Prevention Consortium; and served as a consultant for the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Wellness Task Force. She has presented nationally on sexual assault prevention in higher education and clinical supervision and training, as well as providing training on diversity and identity, management, and leadership. Dr. Fast also treated individuals and couples in a private practice setting.

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I specialize in treating couples and individuals with relationship issues. Whether you’re married, living together, or dating, I’m experienced in helping people just like you. Or maybe you’re divorced and need help co-parenting, I work that population too. I am trained in interpersonal relationship dynamics and processes. I’ve conducted research on couples and would love to help your relationship thrive. I help people reconnect with their partner, rekindle the passion they once had, and redefine their relationship moving forward. I work WITH clients instead of for them. Your goals are my goals and I have the training and experience to assist you in meeting those goals.

As a Christian, I recognize the power of faith in anyone’s life and relationships. Although I am not a Christian Counselor, I love the opportunity to incorporate faith into the therapeutic process when applicable. I have seen firsthand the transformative power of faith in and out of the therapy room, and would be happy to walk that path with you as well. However, if you are not a person of any particular faith or don’t see that as a part of your journey, I’m always desiring to meet you where you’re at in life.

Dr. Paul Stanford is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor (#202565) in Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Nova Southeastern University with a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy, and from Florida State University with a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Stanford is an adjunct professor for the marriage and family therapy program at Texas A&M – Central Texas and Pepperdine University, teaching courses in family theory and couples therapy among others.

Dr. Paul Stanford is also certified service provider for Twogether in Texas, a trained facilitator of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), and a certified provider of Discernment Counseling. Dr. Stanford also has training in couples therapy, sex therapy, sexual abuse and trauma, business coaching, and play therapy. He has been educated in the following therapy models: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Narrative Therapy, and Structural Family Therapy. Dr. Stanford has interned at the Brief Therapy Institute in Fort Lauderdale, the Center for Couples and Family Therapy at Florida State University, Healing Transitions: Creative Counseling for Children and Families, Inc., and S.U.P.E.R.B., an anti-bullying program. Dr. Stanford has conducted research on romantic relationships, specializing in the effects and aftermath of infidelity. Dr. Stanford is also a clinical fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and a former Member at Large on the Board of Directors for the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (TAMFT).

Dr. Paul lives in Dallas and is married and blessed with four children – twin girls and twin boys.

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