Dr. Tracy Carver - Austin Professional Counseling™

Tracy Carver, PhD Austin Professional Counseling

Dr. Tracy Carver is an award-winning Licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas. She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin (and a Masters in Educational Psychology from the same university). She is a former Harvard Fellow, having completed a full-time fellowship in Clinical Psychology at Harvard Medical School. She also graduated summa cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Biology. She was voted ones of the Best Mental Health Professionals in Austin three years in a row (2016, 2017 and 2018) by the readers of Austin Fit Magazine. In addition, Tracy is a 200 hour certified yoga teacher and a Level I iRest Yoga Nidra meditation teacher.

Tracy specializes in mindfulness-based approaches, individual therapy, anxiety, depression, addiction, identity issues and self-esteem and has 10 years of experience seeing clients. She enjoys working with clients who are seeking personal growth and are committed to the learning journey. She has a sub-specialty working with clients letting go of perfectionism or who have overly critical minds. While highly knowledgeable, she has a down-to-earth demeanor and a relaxed, engaged presence.

She comes from a unique upbringing. From the time she was born to the time she graduated high school, her father served as an active duty member of the U.S. Marine Corps. Being part of the military meant that she moved from coast to coast every three to four years. She was born in California, learned to ride a bike in Japan, and went to her first school dance in North Carolina. Looking back, she actually went to 8 different schools between kindergarten and 12th grade. Whew! Such diversity of life experience gives Tracy a multicultural lens.

Tracy provides counseling services for issues related to self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and addiction. She also offers cutting-edge Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for tenacious/chronic depression that has not improved from more traditional forms of treatment. With a flexible and collaborative style, she helps her clients find solutions to their problems and achieve lasting, positive change. Her approach is based on the belief that with increased awareness comes a more profound sense of control and an ability to act with intention. She believes therapy is one of the best ways to cultivate a more peaceful mind, shift the language we use to describe ourselves, and overcome the mental roadblocks that may be keeping us stuck in self-defeating patterns.

After living in so many different places, she feels very lucky to call the city of Austin home. When Tracy is not “therapizing,” she enjoys getting deeper into her yoga and meditation practice, going to music festivals, listening to comedy podcasts, and taking voice lessons.

Specialties:

Depression
Anxiety
Self-esteem
Addiction
Existential issues
Life transitions

Tracy describes therapy:

Therapy works best when you have a desire for change and a capacity for introspection and reflection. A desire for change means you realize something’s not right – you might not have the exact words to describe the problem but there’s a sense you are stuck or somehow not yourself – and you are motivated to want to feel different, improve your relationships, and/or experience a more fulfilling life. A capacity for introspection and reflection means you’re willing to look inward, to pause and get curious about what’s going on under the surface. In our daily lives we often blame others or look for external reasons why we are feeling down or upset. In therapy we learn to become more aware of our inner dialogue, the narratives we tell ourselves, and the way we make sense of the world. It is also helpful to be compassionate and patient with yourself because growth is a journey. The issues you are coming in with didn’t develop overnight, so the solutions you begin to work into your life need time to integrate. Such an approach is helpful when you are seeking transformative, long-lasting change.

Professional Affiliations: