The Staff of the Center for Creative Transformation:
Mitzi Ellington
Charles Gaby
Larry Grubb
Shirley Kalling
Sandra Lydick
Lisa Wilks
Mitzi Ellington, D.Min, BCC
Mitzi Ellington is a pastoral counselor in private practice, and a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She received her clinical training and a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Counseling from Brite Divinity School. Mitzi is ordained, and her experience includes over twenty years of hospital chaplaincy as a Board Certified Chaplain. She has led a variety of groups, which include grief, unemployment/vocational discernment, survivors of suicide, and women’s issues.
Primary Focus of Practice: We live our lives through stories, thus Narrative Therapy is her primary therapeutic modality. Whether it is depression, anxiety, stress, or adjustment issues, her focus is upon helping persons re-author their lives by addressing any issue that is preventing them from living their preferred story with hope.
Adults age 18 and older.
Fees based on sliding scale
For appointments: Call 817-907-3243
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Charles Gaby, MA, LPC
Charles Gaby is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of the Center for Creative Transformation at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth. He has led seminars on spirituality and relationships for the past 20 years and is the author of “The Power of Ritual,” a manual for those who want to discover and change the ritualized patterns that rob life of passion and love. For the past eight years he has been developing community rituals, primarily in the United Methodist Church. He now leads eleven:eleven, a weekly celebration at First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. He is certified in Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and has extensive training in utilizing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with couples, individuals and organizations. Charles has presented hundreds of seminars for diverse groups including churches, organizations, corporations, schools and retreat centers. In addition to CCT, Charles directs the Institute for Restorative Communities and serves on the board of directors for The Tomkins Institute.
In his counseling, Charles works with a variety of pragmatic tools from an eclectic mixture of therapeutic modalities but his dominant framework of practice is based in Affect Script Psychology.
Main Focus of Practice: Charles works with clients with almost every diagnosis. His primary focus, however, has been with couples, divorce, relationship issues, marrital conflict and in helping individuals manage major life issues.
For appointments contact the CCT offices at 817-339-5071
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Rev. Larry Grubb, AAPC
lgrubb@myfumc.org
817-336-7277
Rev. Larry Grubb is a retired member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and has 30 years of experience in pastoral counseling. He has developed support groups for a variety of life stages and challenges, and his model for supporting survivors of suicide is emulated by many communities across the country.
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Shirley J. Kalling, M.Ed., L.P.C. - S
Shirley J. Kalling has been in private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor since 1994. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Rio Grande University, Ohio, and a Masters from Texas A & M University. She has experience as an elementary, secondary, and special education counselor, and facilitates grief support groups as requested through the church. She focuses on short-term counseling to address many issues clients are dealing with. She offers a wide array of counseling services including individual, family, couples and group.
Primary Focus of Practice: She focuses on short-term counseling to address many issues clients are dealing with. She offers a wide array of counseling services including individual, family, couples and group.
Contact Information: 817-233-9072 817-927-4104
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Rev. Sandra Lydick, M.Div., LMSW
Rev. Sandra Lydick, an ordained elder in the
She founded Crime Victims Council in 2006 and serves as Executive Director and Chaplain to provide counseling, training, an annual Interfaith worship service of Help, Hope, and Healing, community education, and crime prevention. The council engages in raising community consciousness and acts as an advocate for crime victims’ rights.
Rev. Lydick is a member of The Clergy and Police Alliance Program (C.A.P.A.), a coalition of pastors who work in partnership with the police department to serve the citizens of
Sandra is an advocate for women and women in leadership; she served as Co-Convener of the Women’s Caucus of the
She studies and practices Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, Self-Relations, and Affect psychotherapy. She has taught and practiced yoga for over 40 years. She is a published author with a chapter, “Applications of Self Relations in Religious Settings, Healing Communities, and Faith Development,” in Walking in Two Worlds: the Relatonal Self in Theory, Practice, and Community, Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D. and Dvorah Simon, Ph.D., editors.
She is a member of Tarrant County Coalition for Crime Victim Services and Tarrant County Council on Family Violence. She has been a volunteer for the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health team and at The Warm Place for children ages 3 – 5 who are grieving the loss of a parent, sibling, or grandparent.
Primary Focus of Practice: Rev. Sandra J. Lydick is a Victims Chaplain, endorsed by the United Methodist Endorsing Agency, providing Pastoral Counseling, assessment, information and referral for victims of crime or trauma, and family members of crime victims. Flexible appointment schedule. Fees based on sliding scale.
Contact Information: 817-675-6367, sandralydick@crimevictimscouncil.org
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Lisa Wilks MA, LPCI
Lisa raduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Psychology and a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Texas Wesleyan University. She is a Licensed Professional Counseling Intern. She works fulltime at Texas Wesleyan University in the Payroll office, part-time at LifeSynch/Humana located in Las Colinas with the EAP department, First UMC in Fort Worth, and Texas Wesleyan University Career Services. She worked 2 years at SafeHaven of Fort Worth, which is a shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence.
Primary Focus of Practice:
Domestic Violence
Couples Counseling
Anxiety
Grief/Death/Dying
Stress Management
Family Therapy
Career Counseling
Educational Counseling
Adolescents 13 and up
Contact Information: (817) 991-4271 or lwilks@txwes.edu
Lisa is currently seeing clients in the CCT offices on Thursday evenings from 4:30 – 6:30 and some Saturdays. My fee schedule is $25 an hour or sliding fee.
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