Meet Dr. Nancy Thomas
Degrees and Experience
- Ph.D., Counselor Education and Supervision (Texas A&M University at Commerce)
- M.A., Biblical Counseling (Dallas Theological Seminary)
- B.A., Psychology (University of Texas at Dallas)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Texas
- EMDR Trained
Biography and Professional Achievements
Dr. Nancy Thomas is the Program Director for CCU's M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and an Assistant Professor. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDR-trained clinician in Dallas, Texas. She joined CCU as an Affiliate Faculty member and has previously worked as an Adjunct Faculty member for various institutions. Her clinical experience consists of both private practice and community health centers.
Dr. Thomas is passionate about advocating for the mental health needs of minority groups, like her own, where there are a number of resistances to help-seeking. She believes creativity in the counseling room and the classroom helps break barriers to therapeutic growth and professional development and helps fulfill our ethical obligation to multicultural competence and advocacy. In her clinical practice, Dr. Thomas specializes in walking beside individuals suffering from the long-term effects of trauma through EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). She works to provide resources to the community through her counseling services, teaching, podcast, and trainings. Currently, she is working on various research projects - to amplify BIPOC perceptions of telehealth, to understand the perception of trauma in the South Asian church, and to learn how a spiritual activity improves self-awareness in counselors-in-training. She has written a book chapter, received grants to fund research, published in peer-reviewed journals, and published in non-refereed newsletters. She has provided research mentorship and paid research opportunities to CCU MACMHC students using grant funding from various counseling organizations. She is also the proud recipient of AHC’s Humanistic and Social Justice Award in 2021.
Dr. Thomas has presented in local community organizations, local churches, at weekend-long seminars, at the Dallas FBI Office, and at state, national, and international counseling conferences. Specifically, she has presented individually or with colleagues at the Texas Counseling Association (TCA), Texas Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES), Texas A&M University Annual Research Symposium, Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC), Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC), Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), Benjamin V. Cohen Peace Conference, Association for Humanistic Counseling (AHC), Joint Conference for Counselors and Psychotherapists in Ireland and the United States, and the European Branch of the American Counseling Association (EB-ACA). The topics of her presentation include original research results, multicultural sensitivity and advocacy, mental health utilization and destigmatization, trauma-informed care, mentorship and research mentorship, and creativity in counseling, pedagogy, and supervision.
Dr. Thomas resides in Wylie, Texas, a suburb northeast of Dallas, with her husband and two daughters. She is active in her home church - on the worship team, leading Women’s Bible Study, and teaching Sunday School for young adults. She greatly enjoys quality time with her family, crafting with her girls, all forms of planning and organizing, and cooking new dishes in her free time.
Dr. Thomas considers it a privilege to teach at CCU where she gets to integrate the subject matter with her Biblical worldview. The basic tenets of the counseling profession align so well with the transformation, renewal, and relationship with others that Christ desires for us. She loves to be able to walk beside developing clinicians as they experience growth in their professional identity, helping them see opportunities to show grace and share truth in all of their interactions with hurting people. She hopes to inspire students to emulate the compassion and grace of Christ in all they do.
Publications
- Brashear, C., & Thomas, N. (2020) Core Competencies for Combatting Crisis: Fusing Ethics, Cultural Competence, and Cognitive Flexibility in Counseling. Manuscript submitted to Counseling Psychology Quarterly.
- Thomas, N., & Brashear, C. (2020). Out of the Box: Leveraging Creativity in Cultural Competence and Advocacy. Manuscript submitted to Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Newsletter.
- Brashear, C., Hickman, D, Thomas, N., & Mathews, R. (2022) Play Therapy Supervision, Chapter 15: Sand Tray Techniques in Play Therapy Supervision.