OUR TEAM


MEET OUR TEAM




Brian M. Simmons, MA, LPC, CH, CCTP, CFTP, CCTS-S

Licensed Professional Counselor

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Individual

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Family

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Sex Trafficking/Instructor

Certified Hypnotherapist

EMDR Provider

Brian Simmons is therapist, public speaker, instructor, and curriculum co-developer for Minding the Badge™. He is a former police lieutenant who began his career with the Dallas Police Department in 2000, where he would eventually work on a Specialized Enforcement Squad targeting pattern-based crimes in high-risk areas and conducting interdiction for narcotics, prostitution, property crimes, & crimes against persons. Brian later earned certifications as a Field Training Officer, a Mental Health Peace Officer, Police Officer Master Proficiency, and a TCOLE instructor, eventually training hundreds of police officers under the Dallas Police Department's CIT program, as part of the Texas mandated Crisis Intervention Mental Health Peace Officer Certification initiative.


Brian later served as a Deputy Sheriff with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, where he created the Kaufman Country Crisis Response Team with the mission to better train first responders to handle mental health crisis encounters. Brian also achieved specializations in Special Weapons and Tactics and Hostage Negotiations.


Aside from being an EMDR Provider, he is holds three certifications as a Clinical Trauma Professional--Individual, Family, and Sex Trafficking-Instructor, and is also a certified Traumatologist.




Dr. Stephanie Thurston-Simmons, LPC, LSOTP, CH, CFTP, CCTS-S

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider

Licensed Deregistration Specialist

Certified Hypnotherapist 

Certified Family Trauma Professional

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Sex Trafficking/Instructor

EMDR Provider

EFT Practitioner

Dr. Stephanie Thurston-Simmons is a therapist, public speaker, instructor, and curriculum co-developer for Minding the Badge™ and Minding the Marriage™. She has been in private practice since 2000 and holds a PhD in Family Therapy, a Master of Education in Professional Counseling with an emphasis in family systems and child/adolescent development, and Bachelor of Science in Human Development & Family Studies with a minor in Psychology.


Dr. Thurston-Simmons holds three licenses: She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider, and a Licensed Deregistration Specialist. She also provides psychosexual evaluations for pretrial and post-conviction cases, as well as expert court testimony in criminal and civil courts.


Over 20 years of clinical experience allows Dr. Thurston-Simmons to treat a variety  of specialties, including: Marriage & family issues, trauma, abuse, grief & loss, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, PTSD, self-injury, parenting skills, divorce care, premarital counseling, infidelity, pornography, sexual issues, spirituality, sexual abuse, sexual offending, and sexual addiction.



Lisa M. King, MS, NCC, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Certified Clinical Trauma Professional

Cognitive Processing Therapist

Intensive Workshop Therapist

Lisa King has spent more than 25 years counseling with individuals from all walks of life in North America, Latin America, and Asia. She has a Master of Science degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with multiple specializations that include PTSD/trauma, codependency, depression, addiction, anxiety, abuse, and suicidal ideology.


Lisa is an expert in CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy), a trauma focused therapy that achieves significant success among first responders. Besides providing individual therapy services, Lisa  facilitates two different 4-day Therapy Intensive Workshops at Santé Center for Healing: Mindful Transformation: Redefining your Trauma and Free To Be Me: Rescuing Yourself From Codependency . Both programs have been widely used by first responders and combat veterans with great success. 


DR. CHARLES OVERSTREET, MS, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Professor of Psychology & Department Chair

Dr. Charles Overstreet is a combat veteran who provided frontline treatment to soldiers in a therapy bunker in combat zones in the Middle East. Long before PTSD became a household name, Dr. Overstreet was getting first-hand experience.


Dr. Overstreet brings a valuable perspective of the combined psychological and neurological responses to trauma. After decades of trial and error in the  understanding and treatment of trauma disorders like PTSD, Dr. Overstreet shares his best advice to first responders facing similar battles on their own frontline.


Along with participating in social work and city government, Dr. Overstreet has served as the Department Chair of Psychology for Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas.


Dr. Julie Merriman, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S, CSC

Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor

Registered Child Therapist Supervisor

Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Counseling

Dr. Julie Merriman has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 1999 and is the owner/therapist of Dragonfly Therapy Services and Institute, PLLC, as well as the Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Counseling at Tarleton State University. Her passion is providing counseling and consulting support for first responders who give so much of themselves helping others. In 2007, Dr. Merriman developed an interest in the damage that Secondary Traumatic Stressors was having on those working in helping professions, ranging from counselors to medical professionals to first responders. Her extensive research has propelled her to become a leading therapist in this area.


Dr. Merriman has been happily married to a Texas State Trooper for 29 years, having dated for three years before tying the knot. She wholeheartedly supports her husband and his career. The family tradition lives on, as their youngest son, Blake, is a Fireman in Houston, Texas.



Renee Lozano, LCSW, EMDR Certified Therapist (Retired)

EMDRIA Approved Consultant

Renee Lozano is a former juvenile correctional officer, Dallas police officer, and wife of a retired Dallas police officer. She holds a Bachelor in Behavioral Science from Hardin-Simmons University and a Master of Science in Social Work from The University of Texas at Arlington. Renee recently retired from a lengthy and distinguished career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), certified in EMDR, as well as an Approved Consultant for other EMDR trained clinicians who sought to become certified. Renee practiced at Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Southlake, Texas, and her focus was treating trauma survivors from the general population, as well as first responders. 


Renee was one of the first clinicians in North Texas to be trained in EMDR as early as 1997, less than a decade from its development, and is a strong advocate for its effectiveness helping post-trauma survivors.


Renee also provided mental health and critical incident response services for several law enforcement agencies, including 26 years as a contracted Employee Assistance clinician for the Drug Enforcement Administration. She has received extensive training in the areas of adult survivors of childhood abuse, domestic violence, dysfunctional relationships/systems, and first responder culture and stressors. She’s also provided trauma response for other large employers such as Delta Airlines. These professional affiliations have enabled her to be of assistance after the Oklahoma City bombing, Hurricane Georges, Hurricane Rita, 9/11, and other DEA duty and non-duty related incidents throughout her career. 

Chris Moore,  Captain, Chesapeake Fire Department, Chesapeake, Virginia

Chris Moore has been a member of the Fire Service for over 27 years. He is currently a Captain with the Chesapeake Virginia Fire Department and has been with the department for 20 years.


Chris is an active member of his department's Peer Support/Behavioral Health Team where he is an advocate to help end the stigma around mental health in the first responder community.


Chris shares his personal story of hope and perseverance to inspire others, along with solutions that have worked for him and his peers. He has been a guest speaker on nationally known podcasts and has been published by Fire Engineering Magazine.


Gary Dietz, LPC, LCDC, CSAT, CMAT

EMDR Provider

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor

Certified Sex Addiction Therapist

Certified Multiple Addiction Therapist

EFT Trained

Gary Dietz is a retired police officer who was so passionate about improving mental health for first responders, that he became a professional counselor after retirement. Gary obtained an MA from Liberty University and M.Div from George Fox University, before before becoming a professional counselor at Fort Worth Counseling and Intervention. 


Gary brings a diverse wealth of experience born out of three decades of helping people. That unique perspective shapes his philosophy of counseling which he sums up in the Greek word "Paraclete," which means, “called alongside.” This focus has shaped his desire to help others who are hurting. Gary's focus of training and expertise is treating porn and sex addiction, alcohol and substance abuse, post-traumatic issues, and marriage and family struggles. He treats adolescents, adults, couples, and families, with extensive experience with first responders. Gary is a vocal advocate for improving mental health services for first responders and brings real world experience from his own police career.

Adrian Simmons, Executive Director, First Responders Mental Health Alliance™

Researcher & Co-Developer, Minding the Badge™ curriculum

Certified Suicide & Crisis Intervention Instructor

Adrian Simmons is a professional researcher, public speaker, instructor, and co-developer of the Minding the Badge™ curriculum used by the First Responders Mental Health Alliance™, where he currently serves as Executive Director.


Although his mother worked in the mental health field and his father was a former police officer, it was his personal experience battling through years of PTSD and suicidal influence that inspired Adrian to pursue better mental health training for first responders, as well as more anonymous access to effective therapy options.


Adrian's focus is on the use of Neuroplasticity to develop tenacious resiliency against past, present, and future adversity involving trauma. His motto is: Don't wait for a crisis to train for one.


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