When Discipline Works Everywhere Except Inside Your Head
High standards without self-punishment. Discipline without turning yourself into the enemy.
10 years of clinical experience · Free 15-minute consultation · Private pay. Insurance through Headway until December 31, 2026.
Felix Murad, LPC-S · Licensed by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council
Felix Murad, M.Ed., LPC-S, LMHC, CMHC, NCC
Meet Felix: A 56-Second Introduction
Hear about my approach to therapy, what guides my clinical work, and what you can expect from Murad Counseling.
My approach is friendly, collaborative, and practical. We’ll have open conversations about what’s happening, explore what keeps it going, and decide on a treatment plan together. You’ll always know what we’re aiming for and why. Throughout your care, you’ll work closely with me every step of the way.
Sessions are held via video for adults in the states listed above. If you are unsure whether telehealth fits your situation, the consultation is the place to ask.
Not every uncomfortable feeling requires a solution.
We spend considerable energy trying to understand, control, or eliminate emotions we don’t want to experience.
But sometimes, the effort to escape discomfort creates more problems than the emotion itself.
The question worth asking isn’t always, “How do I stop feeling this?”
Sometimes it’s, “What would I choose to do if I allowed this feeling to be here?”
ACT helps people respond more flexibly to difficult internal experiences.
Areas of Specialization
OCD Therapy
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), informed by inhibitory learning, for OCD, intrusive thoughts, religious and moral scrupulosity, and taboo themes. You practice approaching obsessional triggers while resisting compulsions, including the mental ones.
Anxiety & Panic
CBT and ACT for generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, and chronic worry. Treatment targets what keeps anxiety going: avoidance, safety behaviors, and intolerance of uncertainty.
Trauma-Informed Therapy
EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, or Prolonged Exposure, chosen through assessment and according to your symptoms, goals, and preferences.
BFRB Treatment
Habit Reversal Training and the ComB model for skin picking, hair pulling, nail biting, cheek biting, and other body-focused repetitive behaviors.
Related Conditions
OCD, anxiety, trauma, and body-focused repetitive behaviors often co-occur with other concerns. When planning treatment, I consider all clinically relevant conditions, rather than focusing solely on symptoms.
Mood Disorders
Tic disorders
ADHD, anxiety, trauma-related symptoms, and other conditions that may affect treatment
Built Around the Work
People start therapy at different points. Some come early. Others come after years of managing alone, or after earlier therapy that helped with some things and not others. Wherever you start, you will know what I think is keeping the problem going, why I am recommending a particular method, and how we will tell whether it is working.
Frequency and length of treatment depend on your needs, goals, progress, and the approach we are using.
What to Expect From Therapy
Consultation Call
A free 15-minute phone call to ask questions and discuss whether this practice appears to fit. It is not a therapy session, and there is no obligation.
Intake and Assessment
The first two sessions help us understand the situation, what’s maintaining it, and what has or hasn’t worked. With that, we collaborate to develop a clear treatment plan, with my recommendations shaping it.
Structured Treatment
Treatment is active and goal-focused, using the model that fits your presentation. We check progress against your goals regularly.
Treatment Starts With What Keeps You Stuck.
Treatment targets what keeps the problem going. ERP is central for OCD, and not every problem is OCD. Assessment determines the plan, along with what is practical for you.
Start by learning more about your condition
OCD and Anxiety Therapy with ERP, CBT, and ACT
Intrusive thoughts, checking, reassurance, and avoidance, with a body that treats uncertainty as danger. What keeps it going is the loop: the alarm fires, a ritual or an escape ends the experiment early, and the prediction survives untested. Treatment uses Exposure and Response Prevention grounded in inhibitory learning, with CBT and ACT for anxiety and panic, aimed at feared predictions, body alarm, and safety behaviors rather than the feeling alone.
BFRB Treatment with Habit Reversal Training and the ComB Model
Skin picking, hair pulling, nail biting, and cheek biting that feel automatic, often unnoticed until the damage is done. What maintains them is a behavior sequence: triggers, urges, sensory payoff, and environments that make the behavior easy. Habit Reversal Training and the ComB model target that sequence with awareness training, competing responses, and changes to the settings where picking or pulling happens, with ACT for the urges themselves.
Trauma and PTSD Therapy with EMDR, CPT, or Prolonged Exposure
You may function well on the outside while past experiences still shape your reactions, relationships, and sense of safety. Reminders of the trauma can trigger distress and other trauma-related responses long after the event. EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, or Prolonged Exposure is chosen to fit how the trauma is functioning now, and paced around stability, consent, and what you can hold without flooding.
Not sure which one fits? The consultation helps determine that. Fees and insurance are covered below.
Clear Fees. Straight Answers.
Psychotherapy is $200 per session. Through December 31, 2026, insurance is accepted only through Headway. Beginning January 1, 2027, this practice will be entirely out of network and will no longer accept insurance.
Free Consultation
$0 · 15 minutes by phone
A brief call to discuss what brings you to therapy, ask questions, and review fit, scheduling, and payment options. This is not a therapy session, and there is no obligation to begin treatment.
Private-Pay Therapy
$200 per psychotherapy session
Individual therapy tailored to your needs. Payment is due at the time of the session. Appointments cannot be scheduled while there is an outstanding balance. Payment details are on the fees page.
Insurance Through Headway Until December 31, 2026
Cost depends on your benefits
Through December 31, 2026, I accept insurance only through Headway, and you must register through my Headway link. I cannot help you through Headway if you register another way. Beginning January 1, 2027, this practice will be entirely out of network and will no longer accept insurance.
Check your coverage and estimated cost for sessions with me.
Opens Headway. Estimates are not a guarantee of coverage or final cost. Some plans require additional verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not Ready to Reach Out Yet? Start Here.
Understanding what is happening can make the next step easier. These guides explore common concerns I treat and explain how evidence-based treatments address them.
Do I Need an OCD Specialist?
Not every anxious person needs a specialist. How to tell when intrusive thoughts and rituals call for ERP-trained care, and what to look for when you choose.
Trauma or Anxiety: When Your Body Reacts Before You Know Why
A tone of voice, a smell, a door closing too hard, and your body is already three steps ahead. How trauma responses and anxiety differ, and why the difference shapes treatment.
Does Emetophobia Treatment Make You Vomit?
No. Why inducing vomiting is unnecessary and counterproductive, what exposure-based treatment does instead, and how to tell a competent clinician from an incompetent one.
Start With a Brief Consultation
You do not need to know which treatment you need before reaching out. In the consultation we briefly discuss your concerns, whether this practice appears to fit, and possible next steps. Want to know what the call covers? See Preparing for Your Consultation.
Prefer to ask a question first? Visit the Contact page.