Pete Thompson was only four-years-old when his mother committed suicide.
In the 1960s, there wasn’t the level of mental health counseling as there is available today. It’s is one of the reasons Thompson attributes to his decision to become a licensed counselor.
In March, he moved his private practice, Pete Thompson Christian Counseling, from California to Texas to help people here.
Thompson and wife, Lynne, moved here with no prior connection to the state. Divine intervention, plus a lower cost of living for future retirement, prompted the move.
Now, after nearly three decades working as a counselor for Stanislaus County– located about 90-miles from Sacramento– he’s moved fulltime into the private practice he started on the side 13-years-ago.
“I get so much joy in counseling people and helping them on their journey, so they don’t have to feel miserable and helpless,” he said in his Lantana home office.
Similar to his practice in California, Thompson works with couples, individuals and children on family issues, plus often-related addictions, anxiety, trauma and stress. Since most of his 19 clients continued with him after the move, he also started an e-counseling platform via Facetime, Skype or personal computers.
Some of his practice consists of helping couples resolve marital conflicts, which he says is far different in Texas than it was in California.
“In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve worked with some families with kids of parents going through a divorce and they are often the only ones in their peer group going through it,” he said. “In California, it was the opposite. Children in homes with parents still married were often the only ones in their peer group with that experience.”
Now that he’s settled in North Texas, Thompson is hoping to help more area people in-person and show them why he’s different from traditional therapists.
“As a Christian therapist, I want to encourage their belief in God, because I see that as a major support, where a non-Christian therapist often sees it as an obstacle,” he said.
More information on Thompson’s work is available at: petethompson.org or calling 940-218-0999.
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