Brian M. Simmons, MA, LPC, CH, CCTP-I, CCTP-F, CCPT-T/A, CCTP-ST
Master of Arts in Professional Counseling - Amberton University
Texas Licensed Professional Counselor – 12 Years in Practice
Co-owner of New Solutions Counseling & Trauma Center
CEO – HC Solutions Training & Consulting
Certified Hypnotherapist Certified Clinical Trauma Professional
Individual Certified Clinical Trauma Professional
Family Certified Clinical Trauma Professional
Trauma & Addiction Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Sex Trafficking/Instructor
Certified Psychotraumatologist (IPTA)
Certified Multichannel Eye Movement Integration Practitioner (MEMI) & Instructor
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) & Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) provider
Brian Simmons is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas specializing in trauma & stress-related disorders. Mr. Simmons and his wife (Dr. Stephanie Thurston-Simmons) currently co-own and operate both New Solutions Counseling & Trauma Center and HC Solutions Training and Consulting. Both are located in Southlake, Texas.
Mr. Simmons received a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and History from Southern Methodist University and his Master’s in Counseling from Amberton University. Mr. Simmons completed the majority of his counseling practicum hours @ Burning Tree Ranch, a residential dual diagnosis substance abuse rehabilitation treatment center specializing in multi-relapse cases. He also obtained practicum hours at the North Texas Suicide and Crisis Center providing remote stabilization and crisis counseling. Mr. Simmons accrued post-graduate hours in both private practice and at Safe Haven of Tarrant County facilitating Batterer Intervention Prevention Program (BIPP) groups and conducting program intake assessments.
Prior to receiving his counseling license in 2010 Brian obtained a Texas Peace Officer License in 2001 and served as a full-time law enforcement officer. First with the Dallas Police Department and then with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant. During his law enforcement career Brian obtained the following specialized training: Special Weapons and Tactics, Hostage Negotiations, Mental Health Peace Officer, Field Training Officer, TCOLE Instructor, Forensic Hypnosis, and earned a Master Peace Officer Certification. Mr. Simmons was on the forefront of the joint law enforcement and mental health crisis response movement to reduce use of force incidents. He created the Kaufman Country Crisis Response Team aimed at bridging the gap between mental health consumers and law enforcement response personnel. Because of Mr. Simmons prior career history first responders, and first responder related stress/trauma are areas of specialization.
Mr. Simmons is a Certified Hypnotherapist. He is also an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) provider, with specialized training in Feeling State Addiction protocol, Migraine Pain Reduction protocol, and treating dissociative disorders with EMDR. Mr. Simmons is also trained in the Acute Stress Syndrome Stabilization procedures (ASSYST) and EMDR-Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-IGTP). Both are utilized for post-critical incident or mass disaster survivor care. Additionally, Mr. Simmons holds five trauma certifications and is considered an expert in the field of trauma. Overall, Mr. Simmons utilizes a mind/body-based treatment approach that combines relevant talk therapy modalities, psychoeducation, mindfulness and somatic stabilization techniques, with Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) and Trauma Informed treatment techniques to address client's presenting symptoms and achieve their treatment goals.
In addition to offering a variety of training courses and consulting services through HC Solutions Training and Consulting, Mr. Simmons and his wife have three popular online training courses: Sex Trafficking and Sex Industry Exploitation (Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist), Neurophysiology and The Stress Response, and the Mental
Health Needs of Law Enforcement. These online training courses have collectively been used to train mental health professionals and para-professionals across the US and in fifty-two nations worldwide. Previously Mr. Simmons and his wife were partnered as instructors with the First Responder Mental Health Alliance and he also currently serves as an adjunct instructor at the Arizona Trauma Institute.
Mr. Simmons has spent much of his time working in the field of human sex trafficking survivor recovery. Since 2016, Brian has worked in varying capacities with four non-profits in the battle against sex slavery: 2019-Present (Advisory Board Member for SWAT League); 2019-2020 (Director of Operations for Express Missions International); 2016-2017 (Director of Clinical Care for Valiant Hearts); 2017-2019 (assisting an NGO that focused on rescuing women and children from ISIS controlled territory in Iraq & from Boko Haram in Africa). During his time assisting in Iraq, he and his wife also designed a child soldier restoration program. Brian continues to work with survivors of human trafficking in private practice.
Stephanie Thurston-Simmons, PhD, LPC, LSOTP, CH, CFTP, CCTP-S
Master of Arts in Professional Counseling – Southwest Texas State University
Doctorate of Philosophy in Family Therapy – Texas Women’s University Texas
Licensed Deregistration Specialist Texas Licensed Professional Counselor – 25 years in Practice
Co-owner New Solutions Counseling & Trauma Center
Co-owner HC Solutions Training & Consulting
Certified Hypnotherapist
Clinical Certified Complex Trauma Professional/CTP-I/II
Certified Family Trauma Professional/CFTP
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Sex Trafficking,
Instructor/CCTP-ST
Emotional Freedom Technique & EMDR – Level II Practitioner
Dr. Stephanie Thurston-Simmons has been in private practice since 2000. She holds a PhD in Family Therapy, a Master of Education in Professional Counseling with an emphasis in family systems and child/adolescent development, and Bachelor of Science in Human Development & Family Studies with a minor in Psychology.
Dr. Thurston- Simmons holds three licenses: She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider, and a Licensed Deregistration Specialist. She is a trauma expert, trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) with specializations in Feeling State Addiction and Migraine/Headache protocols. Dr. Thurston-Simmons is both a Certified Hypnotherapist and certified EFT therapist for a variety of issues, including specialized training for chronic pain and cancer care. She is also a Certified Family Trauma Professional and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Sex Trafficking.
Serving as both Clinical Director and Director of Outpatient Services for psychiatric hospitals, she has experience in directing, developing, managing, and supervising in-patient psychiatric programs, day (PHP/IOP) hospital programs, outpatient clinics, staffs of therapists, therapist-interns, medical technicians, nurses, and psychiatrists. Serving as both Clinical Director and Director of Outpatient Services for psychiatric hospitals, she has experience in directing, developing, managing, and supervising in-patient psychiatric programs, day (PHP/IOP) hospital programs, outpatient clinics, staffs of therapists, therapist-interns, medical technicians, nurses, and psychiatrists.
Dr. Thurston-Simmons enjoys treating a variety of therapeutic issues for a number of specialties, including: Marriage & family issues, trauma, abuse, grief & loss, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, PTSD, self-injury, parenting skills, divorce care, premarital counseling, infidelity, pornography, sexual issues, spirituality, sexual abuse, sexual offending, and sexual addiction. Dr. Thurston-Simmons is an advocate for victim safety and victim rights and is frequently providing professional consultation and community education through public speaking in workshops, conferences, expert witness court testimony, and other public speaking engagements. She is an avid supporter and advocate on task forces for ceasing Human Sex Trafficking, has served as Treasurer for Texas-ATSA (Association for the Treatment of Sex Offenders), is a member of the International Association of Trauma Professionals, is a member of the Northeast Tarrant County Mental Health Professionals Association (NTMHP), and has served on the Board of the Tarrant County Sexual Abuse Advisory Council/TSCAAC, Treatment Planning subcommittee, and is on the Advisory Board for Arizona Trauma Institute/Trauma International Institute.
In addition to working domestically, Dr. Thurston-Simmons and her husband, Brian Simmons, work internationally and have traveled to Iraq assisting the rescue and trauma programs of sex trafficking victims/family refugees as well as developing a child soldier restoration program. She has deigned a Sex Buyer First Offender/John rehabilitation program utilized by organizations interested in eradicating human sex trafficking. Dr. Thurston-Simmons and her husband, Brian Simmons, also provide trauma trainings and support for First Responders and families and have a passion for treating the traumas that First Responders experience. Customers have questions, you have answers. Display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.