Scotty Hixson

Scotty Hixson is a 40-year-old white male counselor practicing in Oklahoma in the southwestern part of the United States. He is a father of three boys, a friend to many dogs, and has been married for 18 years. His interests include movies, comedy, art, podcasts, music, video games, and he is newly into disc golf.

Scotty approaches therapy with the understanding that it can feel scary, embarrassing, and uncomfortable for many people. He frames realistic therapy as the work of identifying and unlearning destructive beliefs and patterns while building coping skills and emotional intelligence to help a person take control of their life. He often compares the process to going to the gym - it can feel hard and uncertain at first, but with consistent effort people usually notice things getting easier to manage.

Comfort and honesty are central to his style. He encourages clients to be themselves in session, whether that means cursing, yelling, crying, taking a smoke break, petting an animal, or talking bluntly about family or a difficult boss. Therapy, in his view, should be a place to speak without fear of judgment or embarrassment. He does not aim to make people feel worse about what happened to them; instead his role is to help repurpose difficult experiences into motivation for change, to make peace with oneself, and to stop those experiences from continuing to derail life. He values using humor when appropriate and prefers direct, honest communication rather than beating around the bush.

Scotty works to help people think more rationally and flexibly, and to be open to change. He encourages evaluating situations in terms of whether a response is productive or destructive rather than simply right or wrong. He emphasizes that life is often contradictory, complicated, and ever-changing, and that adopting more flexible thinking can improve overall happiness, daily stress, self-esteem, and relationships.

He practices client-centered therapy, keeping clients in control of what they address in treatment. Nothing is set in stone and goals can be adjusted as needed. Progress moves at a pace people are comfortable with - small, realistic steps are preferred, with gentle encouragement to expand comfort zones but never being forced into topics a client is not ready to discuss. If a topic becomes overwhelming, he is willing to pause and shift focus - sometimes even to something light, like talking about tacos for a minute.

Professionally, Scotty has 13 years of experience working across outpatient, inpatient acute care, and residential settings - in standard office counseling, mental health hospitals, and substance abuse rehabs. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2010 and a Master’s degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma in 2015. He obtained his license to practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oklahoma in 2020.