Services
Individual Counseling
Couples Counseling
Youth & Family Counseling
Group Counseling
Mental Health Diagnoses
LGBT Gender & Sexuality Issues
Kink, Poly & Fandom
ADHD & Autism Support
SKYPE Counseling
Inclusive & Welcoming to All
My Writing
-
Recent Posts
Search Results for:
Mental Status Exam
The Mental Status Exam is a quick way to evaluate one’s mental health. It’s similar to a physical exam for one’s medical health. The MSE was created by Dr. John A. Schinka and is commonly used throughout the field of … Continue reading
Comments Off on Mental Status Exam
Autism Spectrum Evaluation
When I was growing up in South Dakota many years ago, we didn’t commonly use the term autism. It was too new and there was no internet so information didn’t disseminate as it does in our current day. Today, many … Continue reading
Comments Off on Autism Spectrum Evaluation
My TDOV GENECIS Rally Speeches
On March 31, 2022 a number of us anonymously held a rally at the University of Texas South Western Medical Center in Dallas to protest the closing of the Children’s GENECIS program that provided health and hormonal care for transgender … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries, Transgender
Comments Off on My TDOV GENECIS Rally Speeches
HIPAA Privacy Notice
Renee Baker, LPC – Notice of Privacy PracticesYour Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.Effective Date: 05/01/2021 Renee Baker, Licensed Professional Counseling is committed to protecting the privacy of your health information about you for services you receive at Renee Baker, Licensed … Continue reading
Comments Off on HIPAA Privacy Notice
77 Years Young, Transitions
Here is an article I wrote in 2009. It never found a home in the LGBT press, so I am sharing here as a blog post. I wish I had shared it sooner, rather than ten years later. I enjoyed … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries, Transgender
Comments Off on 77 Years Young, Transitions
30 Years Later – Remembering UTD
By Renee Baker for the UTD Mercury Our forebears love to tell us when we are young that life blazes by in the blink of an eye. I would roll my eyes at such pronouncements. Certainly when I moved to … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries
Comments Off on 30 Years Later – Remembering UTD
Psychological Evaluation
Psychological evaluations, commonly referred to as psyche evals, are simply one of any numerous ways that one can have their mental well-being measured. They sound rather intimidating, but they are meant to help in quickly assessing where we are in … Continue reading
Comments Off on Psychological Evaluation
ADHD Evaluation
I think it is safe to say that almost everyone has heard of Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. If you haven’t, then you may have heard of its predecessor term which we called just ADD. Today ADHD is … Continue reading
Comments Off on ADHD Evaluation
Spring Chicken
In case I haven’t mentioned it to you before, I love to read health books. My dad especially likes studying longevity. He is a great role model for staying well. At the moment, he is 82 and still plays tennis. … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries
Comments Off on Spring Chicken
Positive Living
Let me provide a few area resources for HIV/AIDS. I am not an expert on the subject matter by any stretch, but as HIV has touched my family, friends and clients over the years, I want to be sure to … Continue reading
Comments Off on Positive Living
Asexuality
Asexuality is a sexual orientation, but in the sense of not having an attraction to others. The best estimate that we have today is that about one in a hundred people fall in the asexual spectrum. Like everything, we fall … Continue reading
Comments Off on Asexuality
The Plant Paradox
The Plant Paradox is an interesting health book written by Dr. Steven Gundry, who is a cardiologist and surgeon that has shifted his focus to dietary ways of healing. As the saying goes, let food be thy medicine. And Gundry … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries
Comments Off on The Plant Paradox
The Marshmallow Test and Affirmations of Self-Control
About a month ago or so, I found myself at Barnes & Nobel Bookstore in Plano, a pretty likely place to find me actually, and I was looking for a book to help me with my weight. I readily admit … Continue reading
Posted in Affirmations, BLOG Entries
Comments Off on The Marshmallow Test and Affirmations of Self-Control
Office Information
Our office is located in North Dallas (Farmer’s Branch) near IH 635 and the Dallas North Tollway, just west of the Galleria Mall. We are on the southeast corner of Alpha & Midway. Look for building four, park, then come … Continue reading
Response to Colette Chiland’s Transsexualism
Here is my pointed response to “Transsexualism: Illusion and Reality”, written by Colette Chiland in 1997 and translated by Philip Slotkin in 2003, published by Wesleyan University Press. This is an older book written about 20 years ago and as … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Response to Colette Chiland’s Transsexualism
My 10 Year Gender Anniversary
Today is a special 10 year birthday for me. It was ten years ago today that I took a little trip to Quebec, home of my grandmother, to find a little more peace with my life. It was a 12 … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries, Transgender, Uncategorized
Comments Off on My 10 Year Gender Anniversary
Hallucinations, Not Just For Porky Pig
Hallucinations are not just for Porky Pig. If you are as old as me, then you may well remember the old Looney Tunes cartoon with Porky Pig and his camel lost in the desert in Egypt, dying of thirst, wanting … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries
Comments Off on Hallucinations, Not Just For Porky Pig
Lesbian, Gay and Bi Issues
Lesbian, Gay and Bi mental health issues span much of the same territory of mental health issues for the general public, but identities and relationships are so much harder to navigate. Identities formation is fraught with hurdles and roadblocks and … Continue reading
Current Groups
Group counseling is a valuable and often underutilized form of therapy. In fact, group therapy is considered by some counselors to be the therapy of choice and preferred over individual counseling. Groups provide a small microcosm of the world around … Continue reading
Kink Culture
The kink community today, not unlike the LGBT and Polyamory communities, is a culture coming into its own and likewise faces its own levels of stigma and oppression. Since I began my career in professional counseling, it has been my … Continue reading
Comments Off on Kink Culture
Polyamorous Families
Polyamorous families have a unique set of challenges that include those that monogamous couples have, in addition to the complexities of triads and quads and multi’s. Boundary setting, communicative openness, trust and rules for living and loving are areas of … Continue reading
Comments Off on Polyamorous Families
Mind Up!
Most of us have heard the impossible phrase, “to pull oneself up by their bootstraps.” It makes us pause to wonder how do we do this. It’s like jumping straight up one foot, then when we get there, keep jumping … Continue reading
Posted in BLOG Entries
Comments Off on Mind Up!
Parents & Caregivers
Of all the jobs we can do on the planet, I have to say that parenting is the most important one. So naturally, we would want to be in the best place possible when our children are born or when … Continue reading
Teens
The teenage years we tend to closely associate with the adolescent years which begin with puberty and end near the end of our growth years. Between 13 and 19 years of age, teens undergo a great deal of change in … Continue reading
Tweens
Tweens are pre-adolescent children typically considered between the younger age of about 8 until the end of their childhood about 12. Tweens undergo a great deal of growth during this time, both in their bodies and in their brains. They … Continue reading
Mental Health Diagnosis
One decision clients may wish to make is whether or not to request a formal mental health diagnosis. This is something that we can discuss together, and cautiously so, if even at all. I NEVER diagnose individuals unless they are … Continue reading
Getting Started
It’s easy to get started. Wherever you are at, that’s where we will begin. This is a journey together and you can be assured I accept you right where you are at. You get to make the decisions and I … Continue reading