Dr. Randi Gray, Highlighted By Influential Women, Builds A Counseling Practice Through True Meaningful Connection Today
Mesa, Arizona – Dr. Randi Gray, a licensed professional counselor, board-approved clinical supervisor, entrepreneur, and founder of Randi Gray Counseling, has built her career around a deep commitment to helping others heal, develop resilience, and achieve lasting emotional wellness. Based in Mesa, Arizona, her trauma-focused and trauma-informed practice reflects years of clinical experience, specialized training, perseverance, and a determination to continue learning throughout every stage of her professional journey.
Dr. Gray’s path into counseling was not a traditional one. Before entering the profession, she devoted herself to raising a family of seven children, including five daughters and two sons. She later returned to school to pursue her passion for helping others and did not begin her counseling career until her late thirties. That decision marked the beginning of a professional journey that would eventually lead her to clinical practice, supervision, entrepreneurship, advanced academic study, and leadership within the behavioral health community.
Today, Dr. Gray leads a thriving counseling practice while continuing to maintain an active clinical caseload. She also oversees a team of nine counselors, supervises counseling interns and licensed associate counselors, and remains involved in the strategic direction of the practice. Her responsibilities extend beyond clinical care to include operations, marketing, networking, and business development.
Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and a doctorate in Psychology with an emphasis in Cognition and Instruction from Grand Canyon University. She is also a National Certified Counselor, a board-certified counselor, and a state board-approved supervisor. Her specialized training includes EMDR and Somatic Experiencing, approaches that became important parts of her clinical development and have shaped the way she works with clients.
For Dr. Gray, professional growth has always involved going beyond the basic requirements of formal education. One of the most influential pieces of career advice she received came from a trainer during her bachelor’s program. The trainer explained that clinicians would likely use only a portion of what they learned in school in their actual work and encouraged them to pursue specialized training that would provide practical tools for working directly with clients.
Although Dr. Gray initially questioned the advice, she chose to follow it. She continued pursuing specialized training while she was still in school, even before she began seeing clients. By the time she started her internship, she had already completed training in Somatic Experiencing and EMDR. Looking back, she recognizes how valuable that decision became to her clinical career.
Graduate programs provide an important academic foundation, but Dr. Gray believes specialized training can help bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the realities of sitting across from a client. Counseling can require clinicians to make practical decisions in the moment, understand what is happening in the room, and know which tools may be most helpful for a particular individual. For Dr. Gray, additional training provided the practical preparation that helped her become more effective in that environment.
She has carried that lesson forward for approximately 12 years, regularly sharing the same advice with interns and students who reach out to her. She encourages them to begin their specialized trainings while they are still in school, when student discounts can make those programs more accessible. Because many high-quality trainings can be expensive, she believes students can benefit from taking advantage of reduced rates before they graduate and enter the profession.
Her advice to young women entering counseling is grounded in that same principle. Degrees, education, and credentials are essential, but she encourages aspiring clinicians to begin identifying the approaches and modalities that interest them and to develop those skills early. In her experience, specialized trainings provide practical tools that clinicians can reach for when they are working directly with clients.
That philosophy reflects one of the broader themes of Dr. Gray’s career: lifelong learning. Her professional development did not end when she completed her initial education. Instead, she continued studying, training, practicing, supervising, and eventually earning her PhD while managing a growing private practice.
Her academic journey was undertaken alongside significant professional and personal responsibilities. After several years of clinical practice, Dr. Gray pursued her doctorate while simultaneously counseling clients, providing clinical supervision, and managing her business. The ability to balance those responsibilities required the same determination that has characterized many other stages of her life.
Dr. Gray attributes much of her success to two central influences: her own determination and the support of the people she loves. She has always carried an internal commitment to finishing what she starts. When something becomes difficult, overwhelming, or takes longer than expected, she continues working until it is completed. She recognizes the importance of grit and believes that staying committed during difficult periods has played a significant role in her journey.
That determination has been particularly important in her entrepreneurial experience. When Dr. Gray launched her counseling practice nine years ago, she gave herself only one week to furnish an empty office suite, prepare the space, and get the practice ready to open. Her family became an essential part of that effort.
Her children helped put things together, move furniture, and complete whatever tasks were necessary. Her husband also contributed, with his experience as a contractor proving especially useful over the years. Together, the family helped transform the empty office into a functioning counseling practice. By the time the doors opened, Dr. Gray had a full client schedule.
The same spirit of collective support appeared again during the practice’s recent expansion. When additional space was created by knocking down a wall, her husband, children, siblings, friends, and cousins all contributed their time and effort. What began as her professional project became something the people close to her helped create together.
For Dr. Gray, those experiences are among the most meaningful parts of what she has accomplished. She is proud of the practice she has built, but the memories that stand out most are often those of the people she loves being there beside her and helping make the vision possible.
Her approach to business has also been defined by careful, deliberate growth. She developed the practice without outside investors or business loans, instead saving for years and reinvesting in the business. Over time, that approach allowed her to expand into additional office space and create a larger counseling center capable of supporting a growing team and serving an increasing number of clients seeking specialized trauma-focused care.
That growth has required Dr. Gray to take on responsibilities well beyond the counseling room. As practice owner, she remains involved in operations, marketing, networking, community outreach, and business development while continuing her clinical work and supervision responsibilities. Dr. Gray believes in giving back to the community by working with community partners to offer free workshops and classes. Her role requires her to balance the needs of clients, clinicians, students, and the practice itself.
As a supervisor, she also has the opportunity to influence the next generation of mental health professionals. She provides guidance to counseling interns and licensed associate counselors, helping them navigate their professional development while maintaining a focus on quality client care. Her own experiences with education and specialized training inform the advice she offers to those coming behind her.
The behavioral health field continues to present challenges. Dr. Gray has observed a significant slowdown across the mental health industry, including among practices that accept insurance. She notes that cash-pay practices can often experience slower periods while insurance-based practices remain relatively steady, but she has seen circumstances in which even insurance-based practices have struggled. Some practices across the Valley have closed, and after nine years in practice, she describes the current environment as unlike any season she has previously experienced.
Growth itself also presents financial challenges. Dr. Gray recognizes that her practice could benefit from investments in areas such as social media, infrastructure, and other systems designed to support continued development. However, those improvements can require substantial financial resources. At times, she has chosen to pause projects that she believes are important because building the necessary funds must come first to move forward responsibly.
Even within a challenging environment, Dr. Gray sees meaningful opportunities in trauma-informed care. Her practice’s specialized focus allows the team to provide a deeper level of care that may not be available everywhere. Many individuals need more than general emotional support and may benefit from clinicians with specialized trauma training and an understanding of complex issues.
That specialization has also created opportunities for the practice to provide education in different settings and serve clients who need a deeper level of treatment. For Dr. Gray, the ability to combine specialized clinical knowledge with compassionate care remains an important part of the practice’s purpose.
At the center of her work are several values that guide both her professional and personal life: integrity, compassion, growth, responsibility, and meaningful connection. Dr. Gray believes clients deserve more than surface-level support. She is committed to doing deeper work, continuing to learn, and providing care that is thoughtful, ethical, and genuinely helpful.
She also places a strong emphasis on excellence, while recognizing that excellence does not mean perfection. Instead, it means being willing to work hard, follow through on commitments, and continue improving what is offered. That philosophy applies to her clinical work, leadership responsibilities, business decisions, and relationships with the people around her.
In her personal life, family, faith, loyalty, and showing up for the people she loves remain central. Dr. Gray believes meaningful relationships require effort, honesty, accountability, and a willingness to care for others in practical ways. The same principle of showing up has influenced her professional life, where she has continued to pursue education, support clients, mentor clinicians, and develop her practice.
Outside of work, Dr. Gray treasures time with her family. She is the proud mother of seven children and grandmother of six grandchildren. She particularly enjoys spending time outdoors and paddleboarding with her family in Arizona, creating opportunities to connect, recharge, and make lasting memories.
Her story demonstrates how professional achievement can develop through a combination of determination, education, specialized preparation, family support, and a willingness to continue growing. From returning to school while raising a large family to beginning a counseling career in her late thirties, pursuing a PhD, establishing a private practice, expanding into a larger counseling center, and mentoring other professionals, Dr. Gray has consistently remained committed to finishing what she starts.
Her experience also reinforces the value she places on practical preparation. The advice she once received as a student became an important part of her own career philosophy and is now something she shares with students and interns. By encouraging emerging clinicians to pursue specialized training early, she hopes to help them enter the profession with practical tools and greater readiness for the realities of client care.
As Randi Gray Counseling continues to serve individuals seeking trauma-focused and trauma-informed support, Dr. Gray remains involved in both the clinical and organizational work required to sustain the practice. Her leadership encompasses direct client care, supervision, education, operations, networking, marketing, and continued development.
Through it all, the principles that have guided her from the beginning remain consistent. She continues to value determination when circumstances become difficult, specialized learning when professional growth requires it, and the support of the people who have stood beside her throughout her journey.
Today, she continues to invest in the people around her while maintaining her own commitment to growth. Whether she is sitting with a client, supervising an emerging counselor, making decisions about the future of her practice, or spending time with her family, Dr. Gray remains guided by the belief that people matter, commitments matter, and the way individuals care for others matters.
Through Randi Gray Counseling, her work continues to provide a trauma-informed environment for individuals seeking meaningful support while creating opportunities for other clinicians to grow professionally. Her leadership and experience have shaped a practice built on specialized care, perseverance, compassion, and connection, reflecting the values that have defined her personal and professional journey.
Learn More about Randi Gray:
Through her Influential Women profile, https://influentialwomen.com/connect/randi-gray or through her website, https://www.randigraycounseling.com/
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