Family life in the Coppell area, at every age
For many Creekview parents, a typical week includes Coppell ISD homework, practices and lessons, a commute that may run toward DFW Airport or downtown Dallas, and a few minutes of quiet if you are lucky. Most days the system works. Then a child starts refusing school, a sibling rivalry turns physical, or a diagnosis like ADHD or autism changes how the whole household runs.
Family therapy helps when the usual fixes stop working. Instead of focusing only on the child who is struggling, it looks at how everyone in the home affects each other and builds routines that work for the whole group. Dr. Audrey Kteily has helped families across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with this kind of work for more than two decades, and her sessions are now fully online.
Online work also suits the reality of a busy Coppell-area household. You do not need to find a sitter for younger siblings, leave work early or sit in traffic on Denton Tap Road to reach an appointment. The time you set aside goes to your family.
Common reasons Creekview families reach out
Younger children
- Tantrums, defiance or aggression that seem bigger than a phase.
- Anxiety at bedtime, at drop-off or around new situations.
- ADHD, autism spectrum needs or sensory processing differences that make transitions hard.
- Adjusting to a new sibling, a move, or parents living in two homes.
Teens and young adults
- School stress and performance pressure, especially in competitive classes and activities.
- Withdrawal, irritability, depression or self-harm.
- Questions about identity, including LGBTQ+ youth looking for an affirming space.
- Young adults ages 18 to 29 struggling with launching, college or early careers.
Parents and couples
- Disagreeing about discipline or feeling like you parent alone.
- Co-parenting after separation or divorce.
- Your own history, including trauma, showing up in how you react to your kids.
If several items on these lists sound familiar, that is common. Family problems rarely arrive one at a time, and the work usually starts with whichever one is causing the most daily friction.
How Dr. Audrey works with families
Dr. Audrey's PhD is in Family Studies, and her clinical work is grounded in family systems thinking. Practically, that means she asks how a problem works in the household, not only who has it. A child's meltdowns might be connected to an inconsistent evening routine, to tension between parents or to sensory overload after school. Once the pattern is clear, changes become much easier to make.
Sessions are tailored to the ages involved. With young children, she often meets mostly with parents and coaches them through specific strategies, bringing the child in for part of the time. With teens, she balances individual sessions that protect their privacy with family sessions that address the shared issues. Her guide to adolescent issues explains what teens commonly bring to therapy.
She is C-DBT certified, and many families benefit from simplified Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills. Kids learn names for feelings and ways to calm down; parents learn how to validate a feeling without giving in to a demand. Those two skills alone can change the tone of a home.
The first few sessions
The first appointment is usually with parents. Dr. Audrey asks about your child's history, what a hard day looks like, what you have already tried and what you most want to change. She also asks about the adults' stress, because a tired, overextended parent is part of the system too.
Over the next sessions, she may meet with your child or teen, observe how the family talks together and then suggest a plan with two or three focused goals. One family might start with a predictable after-school routine. Another might work on a calm script for handling screen-time limits, or on a shared approach between two co-parenting homes.
Between sessions, you try small changes and report back. Some will work right away, and some will need adjusting. That trial-and-error process is normal, and it is how families find strategies that fit their actual kids rather than a textbook.
Parenting support that fits real life
Parent counseling is one of the most useful services Dr. Audrey offers, and it does not require your child to attend. You learn how to set limits calmly, follow through without yelling, handle sibling conflict and talk with kids about hard topics like divorce or loss. Her article on how parent counseling improves parenting skills describes what these sessions cover.
For teens, she has also written about what a family counselor does for Coppell families and about teen counseling for Coppell adolescents. Both are good starting points if you are deciding between family sessions and individual teen therapy.
When trauma is part of a family's story, such as an accident, the loss of a parent, domestic violence or an assault, Dr. Audrey treats PTSD and complex PTSD and helps parents understand reactions that can look like misbehavior but are really fear.
Online family therapy: how it works
Every session takes place over secure, HIPAA-compliant video, and the link opens directly in your web browser with nothing to install. Dr. Audrey is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, so she can work with anyone physically in Texas at session time; sessions are scheduled in Central Time. Family members can join from separate locations, which helps when one parent works late or an older sibling is away at college in another state where she is licensed.
Online sessions are also easier on kids. A young child can bring a favorite toy to the screen, and a teen may talk more freely from a familiar room. For parents, it means no rushing out of work, no loading kids into the car and no sitting in a waiting room with a restless toddler.
About Dr. Audrey Kteily, PhD, LPC-S
Dr. Audrey holds a PhD in Family Studies and a bachelor's in Psychology from Texas Woman's University and a master's in Counseling from 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 with the National Council on Family Relations, C-DBT certified and a published author on family dynamics.
Learn more on her biography page or meet Dr. Audrey on the practice overview. She answers common questions in her Ask Dr. Audrey series and describes additional specialties such as grief, addictions and mood disorders.
Helpful outside resources
Good information makes parenting decisions easier. The American Psychological Association's topic library covers child development, anxiety and family stress in plain language, and NAMI offers classes for family members. If you want to understand how specialty boards certify psychologists, the American Board of Professional Psychology explains its process. For services outside counseling, such as substance use programs, SAMHSA's FindTreatment tool lists options by location.
Getting started from Creekview
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider and supplies a superbill you can submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Check your plan's out-of-network mental health benefits before you begin. To request a time, use the appointment form on the home page or the form below; she responds within one business day.
Request a family therapy appointment, or text or call (917) 905-3183. Texting is easiest; please keep health information out of texts.