Therapy with Tyler 

Psychodynamic Therapist | Former Perfectionist | Real AF

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Tyler Ricks, a psychodynamic therapist based in Austin, TX, providing depth-oriented therapy for adults and teens across Texas.

I’m Tyler Ricks, a psychodynamic therapist based in Austin, TX, providing depth-oriented therapy for adults and teens across Texas. I specialize in helping high-achieving, thoughtful people untangle perfectionism, shame, and attachment wounds so they can finally feel at home in themselves.

Black therapist in Texas offering a warm, compassionate approach. Psychodynamic therapy in person in San Marcos, Texas and Virtual across Texas.

COME AS YOU ARE

I learned early on that life felt easier when I hid behind strength and likability. But the more I performed, the more disconnected I became.

Everything changed when I met a therapist who saw past the mask — who met me with patience, curiosity, and truth. For the first time, I felt seen not as an “angry Black girl,” but as a full, complicated human. That experience taught me what real therapy can do: it helps you stop fighting yourself.

Step Into My VIP Lounge: Poetry, Books & Music I Love

My work is grounded in warmth, depth, and real conversation.

I believe healing happens when we stop performing and start being known.

My Background

  • My experience includes:

    • Anxiety, overthinking, and emotional overwhelm

    • Depression, disconnection, and feeling numb or stuck

    • People-pleasing, perfectionism, and burnout

    • Low self-esteem, shame, and self-hatred

    • Harsh inner criticism and difficulty with self-compassion

    • Complex family dynamics, parent wounds, and going no-contact with family members

    • Recovery from emotional, physical, or sexual abuse

    • Narcissistic abuse and chronic invalidation

    • Dissociation, inner child work, and identity repair

    • Relationship anxiety, attachment wounds, and intimacy issues

    • Sexual trauma, sexual assault recovery, and sexual boundary violations

    • Therapy for individuals who have caused harm or seek accountability around sexual behavior

    • Porn addiction and compulsive sexual behavior

    • Body image struggles and disordered eating patterns

    • Grief, loss, abandonment, and enmeshment

    • Shame related to ADHD, identity, or emotional needs

    • Borderline personality traits and emotion dysregulation

    • Religious or spiritual trauma

    • Stress related to academics, career pressure, or being first-gen

    • Support for LGBTQ+ teens exploring identity and emotional safety

    • Therapy for neurodivergent clients (including ADHD and autism)

    • Support for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities

    Across all of these areas, my work centers on self-concept, relational safety, and emotional integration—helping clients move from survival patterns toward a deeper sense of authenticity, agency, and self-trust.

  • I earned my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Tennessee, where I trained in psychodynamic, relational, and trauma-informed approaches. As part of my clinical work, I provided over 700 hours of therapy within a university counseling setting, working primarily with college students and young adults.

    Many of my clients were navigating academic stress, identity exploration, people-pleasing patterns, and the emotional fallout of growing up in emotionally unsafe environments. I also led therapy groups focused on disability identity, healthy relationships, and self-advocacy for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

    This work deepened my belief that therapy isn’t just about coping — it’s about creating the emotional safety we never got. I continue to support clients who feel unseen, unheard, or unworthy of rest and softness.

    Currently, I’m in an ongoing consultation group studying NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model), a therapeutic approach that focuses on repairing early attachment wounds and helping clients reconnect to agency, aliveness, and self-compassion. I’m also completing AEDP Level 2 training, where I receive continuous immersion in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy through multi-day intensives every other month.

    Beyond formal training, I engage in weekly supervision and consultation to refine my clinical work and deepen my relational awareness. I regularly attend workshops on trauma, eating disorders, and psychodynamic practice, and I’m an avid reader of psychoanalytic theory and contemporary relational thought — always learning, reflecting, and growing both personally and professionally.

  • I'm a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-Associate #99107) in the state of Texas, under the supervision of Dr. Jaime Telfeyan, PhD, LPC-S.

    I earned my Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where I focused on psychodynamic, relational, and trauma-informed approaches. I completed over 700 hours of direct clinical experience working with young adults navigating anxiety, attachment wounds, identity exploration, and complex trauma.

    Before that, I graduated summa cum laude (4.0) with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Kennesaw State University.

    In addition to my graduate work, I’ve received training in AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), Motivational Interviewing, and crisis intervention, including certifications in Psychological First Aid and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

“She cleared out all of her old ideas of things, until she could hear her own joy with almost no effort at all.”

— Anonymous