' aka' Derek Colvin. I have always found it challenging to write in the third person, making crafting this "professional" bio quite intimidating. I lean more towards being relational and prefer to convey who I am directly to those reading. Here's a glimpse into my personal life – originally from a small town in Western Kansas, I moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma at the age of five and spent most of my childhood there. Although my childhood was marked by trauma, grief, and struggles, meeting my wife at sixteen was a pivotal moment. We married at seventeen and now, twenty-four years and seven kids later, we're still happily together, growing better with time.

In 2004 I embarked on my college journey at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma – where I earned an Associate in Social Science. Continuing my education at Southwestern Christian University, I graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor's in Behavioral Sciences. In 2012, my wife and I started a counseling agency where I learned the operations side of running a therapy business. After managing the agency for four years, we later closed to accommodate some life changes so I could enroll in the Master's program at Southern Nazarene University in 2015. Those twenty-seven months were transformative, leading me to discover my passion for therapy, particularly child play therapy. After graduating in 2017 with a Master's in Counseling Psychology, my journey as a psychotherapist began, providing validation, understanding, and care in therapy sessions – a role that has been one of the most fulfilling in my life.

My career has been diverse, from working in an inpatient treatment center to helping children facing extreme abuse to adults navigating unexpected life changes. Working with couples has especially become a passion, leading me to pursue Gottman training to enhance my work with couples - with the hopes of certification by the end of 2024. Throughout my therapeutic journey, I have applied the Gottman principles to help couples overcome challenges, including offering Intensives ‘aka’ Marathon Couples Therapy, which I have found to be highly effective in relationship transformation.

Enough about me. It would be an honor to support you on your unique path and talk more about what’s going on in your world.