Chinaka Agwu, LPC

Trauma impacts our whole being. Let’s hold space for you to heal your body and your mind.  

Chinaka is an experienced mental health clinician with a demonstrated history of helping individuals heal from mental distress and psychological pain. Chinaka Agwu is a licensed professional counselor, originally from Denver Colorado. She is an experienced mental health clinician with a demonstrated history of helping individuals heal from mental distress and psychological pain. Chinaka’s trajectory in mental health services includes many different roles in diverse environments. Early in her career, Chinaka worked as a case manager with homeless veterans housed in a regional mental health organization. Within this role, Chinaka was privileged with honoring these military veterans by being a member of one of the first organizations in the city to provide transitional housing and supportive services for homeless veterans. It was here that Chinaka experienced being a clinical supervisor as well as director of transitional housing programs for dual diagnosed military veterans.

As a healer within this population, Chinaka provided services to dual diagnosed estranged veterans who were also struggling with reintegration. Upon moving to Dallas, Chinaka’s mental health expertise expanded to crisis intervention counseling and more comprehensive risk assessments. This experience allowed Chinaka to learn more about the Dallas metro area and collaborate with other providers in the city in aiding and support to families, and individuals in crisis therefore determining level of care options to best meet Texans needs. Chinaka also later served as a therapist for individuals and their families suffering from addiction in a rehab facility. In the work that she has done with military veterans, families and individuals in crisis, families and individuals dealing with addiction and other mood disorders, Chinaka has come to believe in the importance of helping people identify their strengths. Chinaka has especially seen how trauma and psychological pain can severely impact the self-concept of the person in pain. By helping the individual recognize that they are not defined by their trauma or psychological pain, the individual is encouraged to recognize and separate their own shame, guilt, pain from the shame, pain, and guilt of their family of origin. From this process of separating “what’s mine from what’s theirs”, the individual can feel more at peace and improve their self-concept and further heal. This is even more apparent in Chinaka’s own personal life and her process of cultural identity. 

Being second generation Nigerian herself, Chinaka is also aware of acculturative stress and what it feels like to “fit in or not fit in”, feel stuck between cultures, and try to gain better understanding of one’s own identity. Chinaka is skilled with helping individuals who come from immigrant homes to understand their own identity and finding their footing.

Chinaka married her college sweetheart, Lawrence, in 2016 and moved from Denver, Colorado out to Dallas, Texas where he was residing. Besides learning more and acclimating to Texas, Chinaka enjoys
watching movies, catching up with family in Colorado and Ohio, and spending quality time with her husband.

• LPC (TX License #80118)

• Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Master of Science Educational Psychology

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- Trauma Informed

• EMDR Trained