Doris Gardner-Wilson
Practical support for stress and relationship struggles
LCSW Texas
- Experience
- 25 years in practice
- Focus areas
- Stress, Anxiety, Addictions, Relationship
- Approaches
- Gottman Method, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Languages
- English
About Doris
Doris Gardner-Wilson is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas with 25 years of experience. She helps people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addiction, grief, trauma, anger, and problems with self-esteem.
Background and approach
She also supports people facing career changes, intimacy concerns, and life transitions. Doris uses a straightforward, warm style in sessions.
She aims to create a calm space where people can say what they think and feel without judgment. Conversations focus on practical steps that reduce distress and increase daily functioning.
Her work pulls from several approaches, including Gottman Method ideas for improving relationship skills, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for building values-based action, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Attachment-based ideas help when early relationship patterns affect current reactions.
Sessions are collaborative. Doris listens first, helps people set clear, realistic goals, and then offers tools that fit each person’s situation.
That can mean learning communication skills, practicing emotion regulation, or trying new ways to cope with urges and cravings. People often come for relief from overwhelming feelings or for help sorting out a repeating problem.
Doris meets each person where they are and works at a steady, manageable pace so change feels possible over time.
Therapeutic approaches and online care that fit your life
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, emphasizes noticing difficult thoughts and feelings and then choosing actions that line up with what matters most. It can help when avoidance or worry is keeping someone from living the life they want. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thought patterns and practicing different behaviors to reduce symptoms like anxiety and depression. It is useful for people looking for concrete tools to change mood and behavior.Doris aims to find the right approach together. Early sessions are used to learn about a person’s goals, preferences, and day-to-day challenges. She and the person then decide whether ACT, CBT, attachment-informed ideas, Gottman-informed relationship skills, or a blend will best support those goals, and they adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online sessions offer flexibility for busy schedules. Video calls approximate an in-person conversation and allow for visual cues. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging let people send updates, ask quick questions, or check in between sessions. These options make it easier to keep momentum and fit therapy into work, family, or caregiving days.
Frequently asked questions
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Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
25+ years
Licensed in
Texas
Languages
English