Ellis Counseling Agency

04/21/2026

Public Announcement:
(AFSP) Debra: we need your help. Last year, we had our biggest walk EVER to fight su***de in DFW--and hope you'll join us again, to bring mental health--OUT of the Darkness!

We want to get as many people registered as early as possible, so we can focus advertising $ on folks who don't know about us. Will you register today & join us this fall, Debra? Go to afsp.org/dfw to get signed up!

Thank you--for making AFSP the largest private funder of su***de prevention research on earth, and for helping us create a culture that's SMART about mental health.

You mean so much to us, Debra!
With HOPE,

-Team AFSP North Texas
afsp.org/northtexas 🛟

04/06/2026

04/05/2026

04/05/2026

🪄✨️Therapy creates a safe haven and equips individuals with the tools necessary to build courage, shifting one's perspective from fear to proactive engagement, facilitating personal transformation.
Debra Ellis, LPC-S, LBSW

03/09/2026

Why does a skill you learned as a child stick, but one you tried last year fade away?

How Brain Brains—The Quirky Science of You
Season 7: Plastic Fantastic
Episode 32: Use It or Lose It

The infant brain builds far more connections than it will ever need. By age two, synaptic density peaks. Then the cutting begins. Around age two, you start losing synapses. By age ten, about 40 percent of the connections formed in early childhood are gone. This is synaptic pruning, and it follows one simple rule: use it or lose it.

The principle is straightforward. Synapses that activate frequently get stronger. Synapses that rarely fire get weaker, then disappear. Neural activity determines survival. A connection used regularly sends stronger signals, recruits more resources, and becomes harder to eliminate. A connection left idle weakens until it dissolves entirely. Experience shapes which circuits stay and which get deleted.

This is why early childhood matters so much. A child who hears two languages retains synapses for both. A child who hears one loses the connections for sounds they never encounter. By six months, infants can distinguish speech sounds from any language. By twelve months, that ability narrows to only the languages they hear regularly. The unused circuits have been pruned away.

The timing varies across different brain regions. Sensory areas like vision and hearing prune early, finishing by around age six. Language circuits continue pruning until about age twelve. The prefrontal cortex, which handles decision-making and impulse control, keeps pruning well into the twenties. Different skills have different windows. The earlier the window closes, the harder it becomes to build those circuits later.

Pruning is not random. It is driven by activity. Synapses that fire together strengthen their connections. Synapses that fire out of sync with the rest of the network get marked for removal. Neuroscientist Carla Shatz described this as "cells that fire together wire together" and "out of sync, lose your link." The pattern of activation determines which synapses survive competition.

Recent research has revealed the mechanisms behind this elimination. Immune molecules called complement proteins tag weak or inactive synapses. Microglia, the brain's immune cells, recognize these tags and engulf the marked synapses, physically removing them. This process is activity-dependent. When researchers block neural activity, pruning increases. When activity rises, pruning slows. The brain is constantly monitoring which connections are being used and eliminating the ones that are not.

This explains why skills learned early become permanent while skills attempted later feel harder to retain. Childhood is not just when you learn fastest. It is when the circuits you build are most likely to survive. The brain is still refining itself, still deciding which connections matter. Once pruning slows and synaptic density stabilizes, the architecture becomes less flexible. You can still learn. But the window for effortless, permanent wiring has narrowed.

Pruning follows a strict timeline. But what happens during the periods when certain circuits are most open to change?

PS: Full clickable citations are provided in the comment section for your reference.

03/09/2026

With Dr. Shay Bills – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

03/07/2026

ABA Business...

03/07/2026

Processing grief necessitates allocating time to confront and resolve your emotions, as it is an affliction of the soul that requires attention and does not dissipate on its own. Trauma recovery often involves consulting a trauma-informed therapist to facilitate unpacking and healing, enabling individuals to recognize triggers and manage their mood and emotions effectively, given that trauma is an affliction of the brain.

03/07/2026

I request that we extend our best wishes and support to all military personnel and leadership, guiding them in making informed decisions. May the safety and well-being of young service members, both familiar (my great niece as well as my BFF son) and unknown to me, be protected; these individuals often enlist with aspirations of serving their country, advancing their careers, and discovering a profession.

03/07/2026

👋🏾The 2026 Social Work Month theme honors the prime mission of the Social Work profession – to enhance human well-being, meet the basic human needs of all people, and put special attention on the needs and empowerment of people are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty.

👉🏾The ability of Social Workers to uplift, defend and positively transform the millions of people they work with each day is needed now more than ever. That is because our nation is experiencing a period of deep cultural, political, and economic divide.

❤️‍🩹Social safety net programs such as Medicare and Medicaid face budget cuts. 💔Voting rights are being rolled back in several states. 💔Discrimination against certain populations, including transgender people and people of color, is on the rise. ❤️‍🩹And our nation continues to face a mental health crisis, with su***de rates rising 36 percent between 2000 and 2022.

💚Social Workers are on the front lines, helping individuals and communities so they can overcome personal and societal challenges and even thrive. Social Workers are also adept at bringing people and communities together – no matter their political affiliation – so they can find common ground and work to improve the welfare of all.

👉🏾There are more than 810,000 Social Workers in the United States and it is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

💚Social Workers are in all areas of our society – with veterans, in schools, in social service and child welfare agencies, in adoption and foster care, in mental health care and health care, and in local, state, and federal government to name a few.

✨️You have social workers who uplift, such as Social Worker of the Year Victor Armstrong of North Carolina, a leading su***de prevention expert who helps people get the mental health support they need.

✨️You have Social Workers who help defend, such as Caitlin Ryan at the Family, Acceptance Project. Ryan advocates for LGBTQ youth, helping them gain acceptance and support of their families.

✨️And there are social workers who transform, such as Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Dr. Georgia J. Anetzberger of Ohio, who has worked for more than 50 years to ensure people who are growing older can still live enriched, fulfilling lives with dignity.

✨️During Social Work Month in March 2026, we will honor the Social Work profession and educate the public about the contributions of the profession.

👉🏾Here are the campaign highlights:

🎊A Day in the Life of Social Workers series will feature videos from social workers from around the nation talking about what they experience each day and how they uplift, defend, and transform the people they work with.

🎊Media Tour/Op Ed Placements: NASW CEO Anthony Estreet will do a series of interviews with the media during Social Work Month in March.

🎊101 Things to Do with a Social Work Degree: This video and podcast series with authors Melanie Sage and Laurel Hitchcock will look at the myriad places Social Workers work in our society and the positive contributions they make.

🎊Social Work Merchandise: NASW’s official vendor, Jim Coleman LTD, provides merchandise that can be used to promote the theme Social Workers: Uplift. Defend. Transform.

🎊What I Know Series: We will pair NASW Social Work Pioneers with newer professionals so they both sides can share their experiences
Facebook/YouTube Live Event: “Social Workers: Uplift. Defend. Transform.

🎊Behind the Scenes” Panels with Social Workers from multiple sectors will discuss what they are experiencing in the current political and social environment and what the profession must do to bring about positive change.

🪄Information provided from NASW.

03/07/2026

Ushering in my BIRTHDAY MONTH 🍀3/17.

02/18/2025

🥀As a fellow survivor of PTSD, I deeply understand the challenges that come with navigating triggers and managing emotions. In my work with many clients who have experienced trauma, I have found that identifying specific triggers—whether they are people, places, or things—can be crucial in the journey toward healing. Recognizing these triggers is the first step toward self-regulation and emotional stability. By gaining insight into what may provoke a reaction, individuals can better prepare themselves to respond in healthier ways, ultimately fostering a sense of control and empowerment over their lives.