Sometimes it’s easy to bounce back from challenges or setbacks but other times it can seem overwhelming and feel impossible to get things back on track. A professional counselor can help you put things in perspective and build resilience.

The TCMS Physician Wellness Program's Safe Harbor Counseling Program is proud to offer help from the panel of professional counselors, including doctorate level therapists, who were researched, interviewed, vetted and selected by TCMS staff and physician program leaders. We assess ongoing feedback from those accessing counseling services to make sure the counselors are providing excellent care. Counselors will make their best effort to arrange your first appointment within the timeframe you need depending on the urgency of the situation.

Blaine Carr, PhD    |    Deep Eddy Psychotherapy    |      Josh Westheimer, PhD

Couple Therapists:    Claire Usher Miner, PhD, LPC    |   Deep Eddy Psychotherapy
 
 

512-627-3583

Blaine Carr, PhD 
Licensed Psychologist

Everyone has difficult times in their lives, and it can be scary and overwhelming to seek outside help. As a fellow health professional charged with helping others, I can personally relate to the struggles that physicians have when life’s challenges interfere. Often it can be a great relief to take that first step and ask for help. Whether your concerns are mild or more challenging, you can count on me to be an empathic, knowledgeable partner to help you weather the storm and get through to the other side. 

Working Together

Through working with others in therapy, and through my own experience being in therapy, I know that different approaches can be helpful for different people, and what is helpful at one time might not be helpful at other times. Sometimes, it is better to use short-term techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), coping strategies, or psychoeducation to address specific symptoms. Other times, deeper exploration using psychodynamic approaches that get to the root of difficulties can be more helpful. I usually use some combination of these techniques with my clients depending on the goals we identify together as your areas of deepest need and priority.

Presenting Concerns

I can help you or a loved one with the following mental health concerns:

• Mood, anxiety, stress, and depression at all levels of severity
• Chronic pain and how physical and mental health affect one another
• Feeling stuck in your personal or work life or in your relationships
• Long-standing difficulties that seem impossible to resolve 

Background

I am a Licensed Psychologist in private practice with 15 years in practice and specialize in working with adults and teenagers (16 years and older) providing psychotherapy and testing. I have worked in many different outpatient and inpatient settings, including medical and inpatient psychiatric hospitals, chronic pain treatment programs, nursing homes, and mental health clinics. I received my Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and my B.A. in psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio. 

For more information go to Blaine Carr, PhD website.  

Dr. Carr offers in-person and remote counseling. To make an appointment with Blaine Carr, PhD call him at 512-627-3583.

512-228-7791

Josh Westheimer, PhD 
Licensed Psychologist

Background

Dr. Westheimer grew up in Houston, Texas, the son of a physician and a psychotherapist. He went to The Colorado College for his undergraduate studies where he majored in Spanish. After college, Dr. Westheimer went to spend several years in the San Francisco Bay Area where he worked in digital advertising around the time of the first dot com boom. He became interested in psychology and mental health while conducting research on refugee mental health with a professor of psychology in San Francisco.

Dr. Westheimer earned his Masters’ and Doctoral degrees in Counseling Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. His concentration was in health psychology and his dissertation focused on utilizing the group therapy format to conduct medical interventions targeting chronic disease. He completed his residency at Denver Health Medical Center in Colorado. He has enjoyed working in multidisciplinary healthcare settings and spent his first several years in practice at the VA. He held various roles in his time there, including working with home-bound veterans, completing consults in a mental health clinic and acting as behavioral health specialist embedded in a primary medical care team.

Dr. Westheimer started a private practice in 2013 and has transitioned to full-time. He works with individual adults and couples and enjoys assisting people as they navigate career and relationship challenges. He treats people with depression, anxiety, trauma, mood disorders and substance issues. He also has extensive experience with people with chronic medical illnesses. Dr. Westheimer is dedicated to making mental health services accessible and reducing stigma.

For more information go to Josh Westheimer, PhD website. 

Dr. Westheimer offers in-person and remote counseling. Call 512-228-7791 to make an appointment.

Deep Eddy Psychotherapy

Charlotte Howard, PhD, CGP, Lead Therapist and Director
Deep Eddy Psychotherapy

The TCMS Safe Harbor Counseling program has a close relationship with Deep Eddy Psychotherapy, a large practice offering the expertise of several doctorate and master level therapists. Charlotte Howard, PhD, lead therapist and Director of Deep Eddy, sees clients but also helps coordinate and triage our physician colleagues or their spouse to therapists within her group who may possess special expertise in specific practice areas.  All therapists participating in  the Safe Harbor program have been vetted by the TCMS program director.  Detailed information about Deep Eddy therapists are available on their website.

Through Deep Eddy Psychotherapy, TCMS members has access to therapists with extensive experience and expertise in a variety of specialized areas including:
      •    Individual counseling.
      •    Couples counseling.
      •    Career difficulties.
      •    Dependency and addiction.
      •    Family conflict and parenting.
      •    Depression and anxiety.
      •    Life changes.
      •    Grief counseling.
      •    LBGTQIA+ issues.
      •    Religious issues.
      •    Various group therapy offerings.

Deep Eddy Psychotherapy offers in-person and remote counseling.

To learn about the practice and their therapists, visit their website at www.deepeddypsychotherapy.com.

To schedule with Dr. Howard or one of her associates or to request triage assistance based on your specific needs, please contact Gracie Duson directly by calling 713-416-1024.

Couple Therapists

512-689-7105

Claire Usher Miner, PhD, LPC
Certified Gottman Couples Therapist

Background

Since couples wait an average of six years to come into therapy with their issues, taking that first step sometimes feels like the end of the line. But in fact, it can be the beginning of the transformation of your relationship into the vision you had when you first met! Often, couples that commit to working on their relationship in therapy find that there is more positivity between them, more positivity even in their conflict, and a feeling of partnership to achieve their goals.

I practice the Gottman Method of couples therapy, which is based on the findings of three decades of research on more than 3,000 couples conducted by John Gottman and his colleagues at the University of Washington. You can read more about this approach in Gottman’s books, for example, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and Why Marriages Succeed or Fail. Gottman Method therapy is the only couples therapy approach that is based on observations of what actual, happy couples do in real life to stay that way. The therapy focuses on 1) the quality of your friendship, 2) the regulation of conflict so that it doesn’t damage the relationship, and 3) supporting one another’s individual dreams and creating shared goals for the marriage.

I will help you learn and practice new relationship skills, challenge ineffective attitudes, and build more positive feelings into your relationship. We will also work together to solve underlying problems in the relationship and to accept the ones that cannot be changed. I will also teach you a way of processing underlying resentments from past events that may be undermining the quality of your relationship. If you are having a lot of conflict and fights, you have grown apart and feel emotionally distant, or you are trying to heal from infidelity or other betrayals, please give me an opportunity to expose you to this approach and to coach you in learning some new ways of relating. Clients describe me as compassionate, patient, kind, competent, and professional, and my counseling sessions as practical and protective of the relationship. I hope you will give me the opportunity to work with you long before your problems dominate your relationship.

On a personal note, I obtained my PhD in Counselor Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1992. I have been in private practice since 1996, and have been certified as a Gottman therapist since 2008. I have a husband, two children and one grandson – and two fur babies (dogs). My practice hours are generally Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (start times). I look forward to meeting you.

For more information go to Claire Usher Miner, PhD, LPC website. 

Dr. Miner offers remote counseling only. Call 512-689-7105 to make an appointment.