Chico established West Counseling as a way to meet the needs of multitudes of clients by having a variety of clinicians who specialize in different areas. His dream is to provide a place where people can develop collaborative therapeutic relationships. There the client can receive education on his/her problem and possible solutions, gain help in a more hopeful fashion, acquire coping skills, be encouraged takes responsibility for change, along with learning relapse prevention.

Chico is a Licensed Professional Counselor as well as a Certified Experiential Therapist. He brings his passion for creative solutions to each client. A native of San Antonio, Chico received a B.A. in Communications from Southern Methodist University, and a Masters in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary. Chico is married to Shannon, has two boys, and is committed to living in Grace and Truth.

Chico spent 3 years on Young Life staff. He worked on staff both overseas and in a group home for troubled teens in Colorado Springs where he began his graduate work. Chico returned to Dallas in 1995 marrying Shannon Hawley and finishing his Counseling degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. While at DTS, Chico served as interim director for the Center for Alcohol Education at SMU. He then worked at Solutions Outpatient Services, an IOT program in Dallas.

Chico later served as CEO of the residential program at Burning Tree Recovery Ranch Treatment Center. He then made the decision to open a private practice. Though he works with a variety of cases, Chico's specialty is working with chemically dependent clients and their families, as well as people who suffer with attention deficit disorder.

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Jonathan May, MA, LPC Intern

Jonathan May is a licensed professional counselor intern and joined the West Counseling group in May of 2009. Jonathan is a graduate of Texas A&M where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and served four years in the Corps of Cadets. Jonathan cultivated his love for working with others through six summers at Laity Lodge Youth camp, a Christian youth camp founded by the H.E. Butt family. This love for working with others in a relational way eventually propelled Jonathan to attend Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters degree in Biblical Counseling and a concurrent Masters Degree in Biblical Studies.

Jonathan also currently serves on the staff of GastonHouse, a transitional facility for young men moving out of primary treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. In this capacity he is able to work with clients and families in a variety of therapeutic settings in order to bring about lasting life change and healing from the disease of addiction.

Prior to joining West Counseling, Jonathan served two years at Watermark Community Church on staff with the Marriage Ministry. While on staff at Watermark he assisted with the development and execution of the Pre-Married ministry, which has evolved into a nationally recognized program, serving roughly 200 couples per year. He is certified in both PREPARE/ENRICH and PICK-a-PARTNER programs, and is passionate about preserving marriages and helping them thrive.

Personally, Jonathan enjoys spending time with his wife Mica, young son Jackson, and dog Ella. The family loves traveling and being outside, but can be found most evenings at home cooking and laughing.

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Michael Sweeney, MA, LPC Intern

Born in Fort Worth, Michael grew up in the small town of Stephenville, Texas. After high school, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Tarleton State University, majoring in Speech Communications with a minor in English and received his Texas teacher certification. He taught high school in Meridian and Flower Mound, Tx as well as being involved as the sponsor for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and spending a significant amount of time volunteering with Young Life in Flower Mound. After working with young people and seeing the struggles they go through, he decided to pursue his counseling master’s at Dallas Theological Seminary and completed the program in 2008.

During his time at DTS, Michael began working at the Gaston House transitional living center for young men who have recently completed residential drug and alcohol treatment before accepting a job as a program counselor for the Right Step treatment center in Euless, Tx. Soon after, he moved to their Plano outpatient program and has been the coordinator for the adult and adolescent IOP programs since May 2009.

While he has experience counseling many different clients with varied struggles, Michael’s past experience working as a teacher and volunteer gives him a unique perspective in helping young people and adolescents deal with the issues they face in a difficult world. His areas of specialization include working with adolescents and young people, substance abuse and addiction, depression and anxiety, family issues and improving communication in all types of relationships. Michael’s goal with clients is to help them identify and confront false beliefs and replace them with truth.

Michael has lived in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas for 3 years with his wonderful wife, daughter and son.

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Born in Dallas and raised in Tyler, Texas, Cynthia finally made her way back here after 4 years at the University of Texas at Austin, 2 years in Amarillo and a year and a half in San Francisco, California.

Her route to private practice at West Counseling began when she left Merrill Lynch as a broker in 1999 to go to Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). At DTS, she got a Masters degree in Biblical Counseling and graduated in 2002. Her coursework included internships at LifeWorks, St. Paul’s Chemical Dependency Unit, and Watermark Community Church. Following graduation, she worked full time at Watermark Community Church in Pastoral Care and as Director of Women’s Ministry.

Cynthia works with women (of all ages) and families on a variety of struggles while specializing in emotional eating, body image issues, and family counseling. Because of her personal experience, she has a heart to educate women on what the Bible says about these issues through counseling and seminars. Her desire is that women would experience the freedom that the Lord intends for them. One of her favorite verses is found in John 10:10 where Jesus says “the thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy; I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.”

On a personal note, Cynthia loves dogs (especially her black lab, Dixie), the outdoors and competitive sports especially tennis and soccer. Her heart is to encourage women to the next step in their walks with Christ so that they might begin to experience where true LIFE is found.

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If you are looking for Wendy Miller, Angie Buja, Steve Lytle, Becky Page or Cristina Sevadjian, you can find them at sparrowhousecounseling.com