Shield Bearer Counseling Centers

Now Shield Bearer is a multiservice organization that, in 2015, counseled 15,000 people at its four locations in Cy-Fair, Tomball and Hempstead.

“Out of all of the things that bring satisfaction in life, relationships are so key,” Executive Director Ray Wooten said. “I’m sure you know people who are miserable in their life, yet they have a good career. What’s going on? It’s their relationships.”

Shield Bearer hosts community programs, such as its dating violence prevention program, which sends counselors into Cy-Fair ISD schools to show the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.

The group also hosts Mother-Daughter Strong—a program that includes physical activity and conversation to build the mother-daughter bond. Strong Father, Strong Families brings dads into elementary schools for an evening with the kids.

Shield Bearer has four specialties that make it unique, Wooten said.

Its marriage-counseling program, Marriage Intensive, takes an emergency room-type approach for couples on the brink of divorce. Ninety percent of couples that entered the program are still married a year later, Wooten said.

Other specialty programs include counseling for veterans and active-duty members, complex trauma services for survivors of human trafficking and crisis prevention.

“We didn’t intend to get into everything that we’re in, but whenever the community says, ‘This is a need that we have,’ and we don’t know who to go to, we look within our skill sets and find a way to meet those needs,” Wooten said.

Prices for the counseling services are need- and income-based, Rotholz said. Interested parties take an intake assessment that determines their prices per session. Special consideration is given for human trafficking survivors, crime victims and veterans.

“There are so many in our community [who] can’t afford services and would go without them without an organization like this,” Rotholz said. “So we work on a sliding scale to make sure we can help the people [who] need it most.”