Meet Dr. April
Dr. April Givens is a licensed psychotherapist, Army veteran, speaker, author, and the CEO of Urban Counseling Clique, a Dallas-based private practice and nonprofit focused on culturally responsive mental health care. With over a decade of clinical experience, her work centers on healing, empowerment, and helping people live in alignment with their truth.
The Quiet Work of Becoming
Dr. April Givens doesn’t speak about transformation as something dramatic or performative. For her, it’s quieter than that. It happens in honest conversations, in moments of self-recognition, in the slow and intentional rebuilding of trust with oneself. Her presence reflects someone who has learned, through lived experience that healing is not about fixing what’s broken, but about remembering who you are beneath everything you’ve carried.
From Science to Soul
Her professional journey didn’t begin in a therapy room. It began in a histology lab.
With a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a pre-med track ahead of her, Dr. April once imagined herself becoming a physician. But a pivotal experience in class quietly redirected her path.
“I decided not to go to medical school after an experience in Histology class, she says. Instead, she entered corporate America, taking on various roles that offered stability but not fulfillment.”
It wasn’t until later, when she returned to school for a master’s in mental health counseling, that things began to align. She had always been drawn to people to listening, understanding patterns, helping others untangle complex emotional problems. Counseling gave her a language for what she had instinctively done her whole life.
Learning the Hard Way
Like many who guide others through healing, Dr. April’s deepest lessons were personal. Past romantic relationships became mirrors reflecting where she had abandoned herself, where boundaries were missing, where healing was overdue.
Over time, she learned to choose herself. She learned self-love, emotional safety, and the power of boundaries. These experiences didn’t harden her; they refined her. They shaped not only how she lives, but how she practices. Her work is grounded in lived truth, not just clinical theory.
Moments That Confirmed the Calling
There were moments along the way that affirmed Dr. April was exactly where she was meant to be. Being interviewed about her first book on Texas Today, speaking at the Share Cancer Support Conference in New York City, addressing teams at Texas Instruments, and leading an empowerment event in Atlanta were not about recognition they were about resonance. Each experience strengthened her confidence to show up fully and reminded her that her voice, story, and presence mattered in rooms far beyond her own.
Building What She Needed
After years in managed care clinics, nonprofits, and insurance-based healthcare systems, Dr. April made the decision to step out on her own. She opened a private practice and later founded Urban Counseling Clique creating the kind of space she once needed but couldn’t always find.
“What drives my work today is being the person to others that I would have liked someone to be for me.”
Urban Counseling Clique is not built for scale or spectacle. It’s built for impact. Dr. April teaches from experience, integrating wisdom gained from life, faith, and service. Her clients don’t just learn coping skills they see what authenticity looks like in real time. They see that healing is possible without losing yourself in the process.
Rooted, Not Rushed
Faith plays a central role in Dr. April’s life. It grounds her decisions and anchors her leadership. So does family. The recent passing of her grandmother an enduring example of generosity and service left a deep imprint. Though she is gone, Dr. April carries her spirit forward in how she shows up for others.
Success, for Dr. April, is not measured by visibility or volume. It’s alignment. Peace. Integrity. She believes in depth over scale, transformation over consumption, and leading as a human first. Her work must empower others without costing her own well-being.
Leading With Integrity, Not Image
At the core of Dr. April’s leadership is a simple principle: integrity over appearance. She prioritizes emotional depth over reach and transformation over consumption. Her goal is not to be everywhere, but to be meaningful where she is. By leading as a human first, she creates work that helps others feel more powerful, more peaceful, and more connected to themselves—while honoring her own boundaries, faith, and well-being along the way.
What Comes Next
Looking ahead, Dr. April hopes to expand her voice through more speaking engagements and additional books. But the message will remain the same clear, grounded, and unwavering: live authentically, stop allowing others’ opinions to keep you stuck, and be great.
Her journey is a reminder that purpose doesn’t always arrive fully formed. Sometimes, it reveals itself slowly through detours, challenges, and the courage to choose truth over expectation. And when it does, it feels like coming home.
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