A family therapist who knows the Coppell area
Families in Cottonwood Creek and the surrounding Coppell area live with a particular rhythm: school drop-off, activities most evenings, parents with demanding jobs near DFW Airport or in Las Colinas, and weekends that fill up fast. When something goes wrong at home, finding an hour to drive to a therapist's office can feel impossible.
Dr. Audrey Kteily has a long-standing practice address in Coppell and has worked with families across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex for more than two decades. Today her practice is fully online. You get a therapist who understands local schools, pressures and family schedules, and your family meets with her over secure video from home. There is no office to visit and no waiting room.
How does family therapy help a household that feels stuck?
Most families who reach out have tried to fix things on their own. Parents have taken away phones, held family meetings, and tried new chore charts. When the same conflicts keep returning, the problem is usually not effort. It is a pattern that everyone is caught in.
Dr. Audrey's doctoral specialty is family systems counseling, an approach that looks at how each person's reactions feed the others. A parent who tightens control when worried may trigger a teen who pulls away, which makes the parent more worried. Naming that loop, and practicing a different response, often brings faster relief than focusing on one person as the problem.
Situations she often helps with
- Teens who are anxious, withdrawn, angry or struggling at school
- Sibling conflict that dominates the household
- Parents who disagree on rules, discipline or technology
- Children with ADHD, autism spectrum traits or sensory processing differences
- Divorce, co-parenting and blended family adjustments
- Grief, illness or a family move
When the couple needs attention too
Children are often the reason a family calls, but the parents' relationship is frequently part of the picture. Couples who are worn down by years of logistics, disagreements about parenting, or an old hurt that never healed may find that their tension sets the emotional temperature for the whole house. Kids notice, even when parents think they are hiding it.
Dr. Audrey offers marriage counseling and couples therapy as part of family work when it fits. Some families alternate: a few sessions with the parents alone, then sessions that include the children. Strengthening the parenting partnership often makes rules easier to enforce and home life calmer for everyone.
Working with younger children
With younger children, sessions tend to be shorter on talk and longer on practical coaching for parents. Dr. Audrey helps parents understand what a child's behavior is communicating, set routines that reduce meltdowns, and respond to big feelings in ways that build trust. Children can join for part of a session so she can see how the family interacts.
Her page on what a family counselor does for Coppell families walks through this in more depth.
What does an online family session look like?
Before the session, each person who will attend receives a secure link. At the scheduled time, you open it in a browser on a laptop, tablet or phone. Some families sit together in front of one screen; others join from separate rooms or separate homes. Dr. Audrey helps everyone settle in and explains how the hour will run.
A session usually starts with what has happened since the last meeting, moves to the issue that matters most that week, and ends with a specific thing to try at home. Over time, families learn to slow down hard conversations, listen without interrupting, and repair after a blow-up. Sessions are scheduled in Central Time under her Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor license, and every participant needs to be physically in Texas, New Jersey or New York during the call.
Support for Coppell-area teens and their parents
Many families in the Coppell area attend Coppell ISD schools, where academic expectations are high and the pace can be intense. Teens ages 12 to 18 may respond to that pressure with anxiety, perfectionism, sleep problems, self-harm or quiet withdrawal. Dr. Audrey works with teens individually and with parents alongside them.
Parents learn how to respond to a teen's distress without rescuing or dismissing it. Teens get a private space to sort out what they feel. The adolescent issues page and her overview of teen counseling for Coppell adolescents describe this work. Parents who want coaching for themselves can read about how parent counseling builds parenting skills.
The practice is LGBTQ+-friendly and LGBTQ+-owned and aligned with GLSEN and the Human Rights Campaign, so teens and parents can talk openly about identity.
When a family is carrying trauma
Trauma can enter a family through an accident, a sudden death, domestic violence, an assault, or years of stress that no one talked about. Its effects often show up sideways: a child who cannot sleep, a parent with a short fuse, a teen who seems numb. Dr. Audrey treats PTSD and complex PTSD and often blends individual trauma work with family sessions so everyone understands what is happening.
For intense emotions and self-harm, she uses skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy, in which she is C-DBT certified. Her other specialties include mood disorders, grief and life transitions. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or 911; this practice does not provide crisis care.
For further reading, the National Institute of Mental Health explains common conditions in children and adults, and the Cochrane Library publishes systematic reviews of treatment research.
Family therapist, counselor or psychologist: which do you need?
Parents searching for help often see several titles. Licensed psychologists may provide psychological testing and diagnosis; some are board certified through the American Board of Professional Psychology. Licensed Professional Counselors provide counseling and psychotherapy, and the American Counseling Association sets ethical standards for the profession.
Dr. Audrey is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor with a PhD in Family Studies, not a psychologist, and she does not offer psychological testing. If your child needs a formal evaluation, she can talk with you about that. For ongoing family, teen, parent and couples therapy, her training is built specifically around how families work.
Dr. Audrey's credentials
Dr. Audrey Kteily earned her PhD in Family Studies and her Bachelor's in Psychology at Texas Woman's University and her Master's in Counseling at Dallas Baptist University. She has been a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor since 2001 and a Supervisor since 2004, and she is also licensed in New Jersey (LPC) and New York (LMHC). She is a Certified Family Life Educator through the National Council on Family Relations, holds C-DBT certification from Evergreen Certifications, and is a published author on family dynamics. Learn more on Dr. Audrey's biography and the practice overview, or send a question through Ask Dr. Audrey.
Start family therapy from Cottonwood Creek
Use the appointment request form on the home page or send a text. Texting is the easiest way to reach the practice; please do not include health details. You will get a reply within one business day.
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider and supplies a superbill for possible insurance reimbursement. Check your out-of-network mental health benefits before your first session.
Request an appointment, or text or call (917) 905-3183. Email: [email protected].