The owners of EmpathyWell Counseling, Dr. Dee Ray, Dr. Emily Angus, Dr. Chelsea Yurkovich, and Dr. Rachel McCullough, had a dream to serve the children and adults in the North Texas area with a focus on strengths and wellness. EmpathyWell, a counseling center in Highland Village, opened in October to serve the community through a variety of practices, including play therapy, adult and adolescent counseling, assessment, and parenting services. Each of the four owners are licensed professional counselors with specializations in different areas.

Ray is a longtime resident of Highland Village; she has lived in the city since 2002, and her children attended elementary through high school in Lewisville ISD.

“I’ve seen that there is a lot of pressure for children to succeed in all areas of life: school, relationships, career and college,” Ray said. “As a result, kids have reported high levels of anxiety and depression that sometimes lead to more serious problems such as substance abuse, suicidality, and eating disorders.”

The team of counselors said EmpathyWell is unique because the mission is focused on recognizing and amplifying clients’ strengths. Ray, Angus, Yurkovich and McCullough all said they agree there is a need for a strength-based approach to mental health instead of a deficit-based mindset.

Ray said she has noticed many of the people seeking counseling are struggling with loneliness and isolation, something which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We live in a desert of relationships, and when people are isolated and lonely, they struggle with their mental health, decisions, and behaviors,” Ray said. “The antidote to that is providing a relationship—a relationship for clients as well as relationships for people in their lives.”

Angus described the services at EmpathyWell work to comprehensively address issues within the community.

“We not only work with families in counseling, but we also do consultations for other professionals,” Angus said. “In addition, we have presentations and training sessions for people in the community like teachers and school staff to help teach them how to better support their students.”

In addition to taking a new approach to mental health, Ray, Angus, Yurkovich, and McCullough completed their doctoral degrees at the University of North Texas. Angus said the depth of knowledge each of the counselors has is rare and important because not only have each of them worked in private practice, but they actively engage in research and are skilled in teaching other counselors how to provide the services they offer. Their focus on working as a team to offer the most effective services for clients is one of the unique features of EmpathyWell.

To help accommodate the restrictions of the pandemic, EmpathyWell offers telehealth services.

McCullough specializes in working with people experiencing pregnancy, post-partum and early parenthood. She said telehealth has made it easier to see these clients.

“With telehealth offerings, I was able to be more flexible and could see people who couldn’t come into the office before,” she said. “That has helped me reach more people than before.”

The team at EmpathyWell chose their name carefully to show their multiple levels of care.

“We love the name EmpathyWell on so many levels because not only does it mean well as in ‘wellness,’ but we also see it as an image: the well is never empty,” Ray said. “We look at the world through our clients’ eyes and can always pull from the well of empathy. When you have somebody to walk the journey with you, the journey is easier—when you walk alone, it is easier to get lost.”

In addition to telehealth services, EmpathyWell offers assessments, child and play therapy, individual therapy, group therapy and parenting services. The counseling center is located at ​​2280 Highland Village Rd #150, Highland Village. The website also features a free blog, a resource for community members to use. Find more information about EmpathyWell on the website.

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