We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Apree Clicque a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Apree, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

For starters, I strive for independence in most areas of my life. Even when I had my tonsils removed at age 31, I refused help from family and friends. I wanted to suffer in silence. This is my personality. However, I joined a volunteer organization a few years ago (Team Rubicon), where I had the opportunity to work with individuals from all walks of life but with the similar personality of independence. One in particular is Kirk McLaughlin. He has since retired to the mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Stephanie, but he continues to be one of my strongest cheerleaders. We have a weekly call scheduled, and he frequently tells me that he enjoys those calls but wishes I would call more often on the bad days – I have gotten better at this. I don’t know if there is one kind gesture in particular that he has done, but all of the small things have added up to my willingness to break down and be dependent on others. Some of my favorite memories are in the small moments with him. When I visit them in Tennessee, we always do fun things, yet I think my most longed for moments are the quiet conversations on the back porch with a cup of coffee. He gives me a chance to let go and not be in charge, rather just feel at peace. And the thing is without Team Rubicon there would have been no reason for our paths to cross. We are not in the same age bracket. We do not work in the same fields (he’s a retired Fire Fighter/ex-military). We have the occasional overlapping friend from Team Rubicon. But I would 100% consider him one of my best friends. When he visits Texas, I know that hands down he will sacrifice time so we can grab lunch or will invite me to family gatherings. I’m sure he is this way with all of his friends, but I hope he realizes how important that steady presence is for those of us who struggle with not being in charge of a situation.

Apree, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Howdy! My name is Dr. Apree Clicque. I am a loyal Aggie, Aunt, volunteer, therapist and business owner. Currently, I am a partner in a mental health private practice in Las Colinas – Dallas Therapeutic Services. Our therapists work with just about everything and are some of the best clinicians I have ever worked with.

My career has given me the opportunity to work in a variety of areas in our field. I started with an inpatient psychiatric hospital before moving on to work in the intake department of another hospital. I worked in private practice for a short period of time prior to working in a residential setting with both mental health and substance abuse issues. Finally, I moved into full time private practice, while also engaging in an intensive outpatient program as a part time clinician. Eventually, I began working with Dallas Therapeutic Services and have not looked back.

Currently, I work with ages 12 and up. While I have experience in many areas, my primary focus is working with those who have experienced trauma. I have advanced training in working with military members and first responders, as well as their families. I enjoy working with the LGBTQ+ population, end of life issues, and body image/self-esteem issues. Additionally, I have a history of working with TBIs, Trichotillomania, Women’s Issues, Pilots/Aviation Industry, Anxiety, Depression, Grief, and Mood Disorders. Now, upon receiving my doctorate and working in the field of psychological evaluation, I am excited to offer clients ADHD, Autism, IQ and Personality Testing.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Alright, vulnerability right here, my hands down worst memory was from early in my career as a partner with Dallas Therapeutic Services. To give some backstory, one of the other most kind things that somebody has ever done for me would be my parents stepping into the arena to help with our business. My dad, Brian, currently serves as our office manager, and my mom, Vicki, is our billing specialist. These were not roles they had performed before, but as the business grew they jumped in to help. While I consider all of my clinicians and business partners to be stars, these guys win gold. They are frequently up past midnight to work on office things. Provide support not only to the clients but our clinicians as well. They just care about us succeeding in a way that nobody else could (aside from probably other parents of our clinicians!). For me, the most deeply treasured value is sacrificial time, and these guys hands down serve in this capacity.

So the bad story, and I’ll set you up for success. The moral is proactive versus reactive. We had been in operation maybe a few months, when I went on a vacation with my mom and sister. There was an issue with a client’s paperwork, and instead of waiting for Brian to figure out what had happened I freaked out. I contacted the client, worked on the things in our system and basically made him feel 2 inches tall. In the moment, I was coming from a place of fear as a new business owner and feeling as though everything had to be done perfectly. The reality is there are very few things that constitute a crisis, and Brian was able to figure out what had happened. While there was a fix needed, it was nothing that required my shaming behaviors. In fact, I didn’t need to be involved at all. I should have trusted him to handle it. I do now. It’s not always natural, but I try to just assume things will get worked out or that things are not that big of a deal. I know I hurt his feelings bad, and it lives on as my deepest regret. But it also taught me more about being a leader than anything else could have. It made me realize I wanted to be the type of leader who could be slow to respond and to gather all of the information. For the record, I still don’t nail this, and my gut is still to jump to attention on any issues, but it is a work in progress.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Hands down – build connection. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend multiple leadership conferences in the past, and I firmly believe in the saying “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s fabulous to have good goals/strategy, but, if there is not a solid cultural foundation, nothing else matters. My biggest piece of advice would be to create an environment of safety, where people feel they can tell you when you are doing a bad/good job, can express their concerns, can tell you about their kid’s soccer game, etc. Be a part of their lives. I recently told one of our clinicians, who was expressing some anger over a situation and apologized for it, that anger is a valid emotion and she should always be able to bring that to our attention. I think leaders start to fail when they assume a person’s reaction is personal to them versus being willing to get into the muck to find out more about how to change the environment or themselves. I am also a big ideas person so I love when people want to talk about their future goals/endeavors (even if they are not with our group!). That would be my other piece of advice – foster an environment of growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DallasTherapeutic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dallastherapeuticservices/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dallastherapeutic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dallastherapeuticservices

Image Credits
All photos were taken by self or family members