Counseling for Men in Denton County
Rated 5/5 Stars
You have handled it. You are still handling it. That is sort of the problem.
Licensed and supervised counselors
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In-network with most major insurances
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Lower-cost options available
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Rated 5/5 Stars
✳︎
Licensed and supervised counselors ✳︎ In-network with most major insurances ✳︎ Lower-cost options available ✳︎ Rated 5/5 Stars ✳︎
Getting Started in Three Easy Steps
1 - Reach out
Fill out the contact form; you do not need to explain everything, just enough for us to reach out and to point you in the right direction.
2 - Get matched
Our office administrator will pair you with the counselor whose specialty and availability fit what you need. If you already know who you want to see, let us know.
3 - Get Started!
Your first session is a conversation, not an interrogation. You will talk about what brought you in and the goals you want to achieve.
What Counseling for Men Looks Like
Most men who end up in this office are not falling apart. They are functioning, showing up, holding a job and a family together, and running on a shorter fuse and less sleep than they used to. Counseling here is a practical, unhurried hour with someone who is not going to lecture you, psychoanalyze you, or ask how that makes you feel forty times.
Sessions run 50 to 60 minutes, usually weekly to start. The first one is mostly your counselor asking questions and listening. You are not expected to arrive with a diagnosis or a tidy story, and nobody is measuring whether you open up fast enough. After that the work is practical. You look at the patterns that keep producing the same week, work out which ones are worth changing, and build skills you can use on a Wednesday at work rather than only in a quiet office.
Most men are not avoiding counseling because they think it does not work. They are avoiding it because of what calling seems to say about them. That is worth naming plainly. Men are significantly less likely than women to seek mental health care, and significantly more likely to die by suicide. Those two facts are related. Asking for help is not the opposite of being strong. It is the part most people skip.
Depression does not always look like sadness. In the men who come here it often shows up as anger that is out of proportion to what happened, as numbness, as overworking, as headaches or a stomach that is always tight, or as drinking a little more than you used to. Anxiety does the same thing. Instead of worry you can point to, it comes out as a short temper, a racing mind at 2 a.m., or a low-grade sense that something is about to go wrong. None of that means something is broken in you. Most of it started as a reasonable adaptation to a problem and it has stopped being useful.
Anger gets its own mention, because for a lot of men it is the loudest emotion that shows up. When anger is the one feeling that has always existed, it becomes the exit for all the others. Hurt comes out as anger. Fear comes out as anger. Shame especially comes out as anger. Working on it is not about learning to swallow it. It is about slowing the gap between the trigger and the reaction long enough to find out what is actually in there, and then dealing with that instead.
We work on stress and burnout, anger and irritability, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, divorce and separation, fatherhood, career pressure and job loss, self-worth, and communication problems at home.
You Might Be Here Because
You are more irritable than you want to be, and the people who get the worst of it are the people you care about most
You are working more than the work requires, because stopping is worse
You are drinking a little more than you used to and you have noticed
Sleep is bad, or sleep is the only thing that sounds good
Something happened, a while back or recently, and you have never told anyone the whole thing
A relationship is ending, or already ended, and you have been “fine” for months
You are a father and you do not want your kids to get the worst version of you
You cannot point to a single thing that is wrong, and you still feel empty
If any of this sounds familiar, counseling may be a helpful path forward.
About Us and What Others are Saying
Hi, I’m Ashley! I am the owner of Grateful Heart Counseling and we are here to help your family navigate through life's many challenges.
Whether it's anxiety creeping in, low self-esteem holding you back, or difficult changes happening around you, we can help you gain the skills and self confidence to overcome these obstacles.
Our counselors are trained in multiple evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and for younger kids- the transformative power of Play Therapy. Together, we can start your journey towards healing and growth.
“Ashley has helped equip me with tools for parenting my son who went through a major change in his life. She listened, took time to give me materials, and helped me feel supported as the parent. I would recommend her for parents who have a child needing emotional support!”
“Grateful heart counseling is an excellent resource in the Justin area! Ashley and her team have taken a special interest in the play therapy population and know their stuff! This team does a great job equipping their clients with the tools that they need to succeed!”
“Ms. Smith has supported both myself and my kiddos through so many situations. She is enthusiastic to share ideas for solving everyday challenges as well as an expert in grief counseling, self-help, and executive functioning skills. I would give her 100/100 if that amount of stars was an option!”
Our Locations That Offer Men’s Counseling
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Justin Location
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Denton Location
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24 hours a day.
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50 to 60 minutes, usually weekly to start.
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There is no fixed number. Some people come for a few months around a specific problem, others stay longer. Your counselor will help you figure out what makes sense for your goals, and you are free to stop anytime and come back later.
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We try to get your first appointment scheduled within a week from when you call. Some of our Therapists offer appointments in the early morning, evenings, or on Saturdays to try to accommodate your schedule.
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Mostly listening. Your counselor will ask about your history, what is going on now, and what you want to be different. You are not expected to have it all organized in your head beforehand.
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Yes, with the legal limits every licensed counselor in Texas operates under, which your counselor will explain clearly in the first session.
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You do not have to be in crisis to deserve support. Plenty of people start therapy because something feels off, not because everything has fallen apart, and that is often the easiest time to make real change.
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We are in-network with several major insurance panels. Lower-cost sessions are available with our associate and pre-licensed counselors.
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Yes, for adults, anywhere in Texas.
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Yes. Almost nobody walks in good at it, and it is your counselor’s job to make the conversation go somewhere, not yours. Being able to describe what is going on is usually a result of counseling rather than a requirement for it.
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Some men strongly prefer talking to another man, and that is a legitimate preference you do not need to justify. Others find it easier to open up with a woman, because there is less instinct to compete or perform. Tell our office administrator what you would prefer when you call and we will do our best to match you with your preference.
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Yes, we have one male counselor in our Denton office. He usually has a small waitlist of clients wanting to get in with him. We also have several female therapists who have years of experience working with men. They have worked with active duty military families, offered anger management courses, and enjoy working with men.
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No. That decision is yours and it is made with a prescriber, not assigned to you by a counselor. If it seems worth exploring, we will say so and you can decide.