Her Story
About Randi
Dr. Randi Gray is a psychologist, licensed mental health counselor, clinical supervisor, and entrepreneur whose career reflects an extraordinary commitment to service, perseverance, and lifelong learning. As the founder and owner of Randi Gray Counseling in Mesa, Arizona, she leads a thriving trauma-focused and trauma-informed practice dedicated to helping individuals heal, build resilience, and achieve lasting emotional wellness. Known for her compassionate approach and dedication to high-quality care, Dr. Gray has built a reputation as a trusted clinician, mentor, and advocate within the behavioral health community.
Her path into the counseling profession was anything but traditional. Before entering the field, Dr. Gray devoted herself to raising a family of seven children—five daughters and two sons. While balancing the demands of motherhood, she returned to school to pursue her passion for helping others and did not begin her counseling career until her early forties. After several years of clinical practice, she took on the challenge of earning her Ph.D. in Psychology from Grand Canyon University while simultaneously managing a growing private practice, counseling clients, and providing clinical supervision. Her entrepreneurial journey is equally inspiring. When she launched Randi Gray Counseling nine years ago, she transformed an empty office suite into a fully functioning practice in just nine days and opened her doors with a full client schedule. Through exceptional client care, strong community relationships, and unwavering determination, she steadily grew the practice without outside investors or business loans. By carefully reinvesting in the business and saving for years, she successfully expanded into additional office space, creating a larger, more comprehensive counseling center that now supports a growing team of clinicians and serves an increasing number of clients seeking specialized trauma-focused care.
Today, Dr. Gray oversees a team of eight to nine counselors while maintaining an active clinical caseload and mentoring the next generation of mental health professionals. She supervises counseling interns and licensed associate counselors, providing guidance that supports both professional development and quality client care. In addition to her clinical and supervisory responsibilities, she remains deeply involved in the strategic growth of the practice, including operations, marketing, networking, and business development. Beyond her professional achievements, Dr. Gray treasures time with her family and is the proud mother of seven children and grandmother of five grandchildren. She enjoys spending time outdoors and particularly loves paddleboarding with her family in Arizona, embracing opportunities to connect, recharge, and create lasting memories. Through her leadership, expertise, and unwavering dedication to trauma-informed care, Dr. Gray continues to make a meaningful impact on the lives of her clients, colleagues, and community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Randi
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to two main things: internal grit and the support of my loved ones. It's that thing I've cultivated inside myself that says I finish what I start, I don't quit, I keep at it. It's the grit that research shows is necessary to accomplish these things, and I've had to use that commitment to finishing what I start in everything I've done. The other piece is certainly the support of my people, the people around me that I love and care about, and their support for me. They step in and help, whether it's getting an office ready, doing construction, or just showing up in a loving, caring way. When I opened my practice, I gave myself one week to completely furnish and set up an office, and all my kids were here working on things, my husband was here (he's a contractor, which is very handy), and everyone just showed up in those moments and we got it done. The same thing happened with my recent expansion when we knocked down the wall. All my kids, my husband, my friends, my cousins, everybody just showed up and we got it done. That is probably one of the sweetest, most beautiful parts of those moments.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from a trainer who had her PhD when I was in my bachelor's program. She told me, 'You'll use about 10% of your education in what you actually are doing.' At first, I thought there's no way she knows what she's talking about, that can't possibly be true. But she was emphasizing to us: get your trainings. Your trainings are going to be the things that you use the most, that apply the most, and that are the most helpful when you're sitting across from somebody. As much as I thought she can't be right, I listened, and I continued to get those trainings all through going to school before I was even seeing people. I had my somatic experiencing training and my EMDR training before I was in my internship. I'm glad that I listened, because she was actually right. I don't know what it is about our program, but it doesn't actually prepare you to do this job. It's not like a nursing program where when they finish, they know how to be a nurse. Our programs are not like that, for whatever reason, and so those trainings really did inform everything that I did. I've relayed that advice to people ever since, probably for 15 years now. Anytime I have an intern or a student calling and asking me questions, I always share that same feedback: get your trainings while you're in school, because that's what's going to make you great and more effective in what you're trying to do. Plus, you get a discount as a student. Those trainings are expensive, and if you're a student, you get a discount, so get them while you're in school because you're going to need them and you won't have to pay full price.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this field is the same advice I received and followed: get your trainings while you're in school. Yes, you have to go to school and get the piece of paper, and there will be a few classes that are helpful and that you'll use, but by far, it's going to be your trainings that make the difference. So start collecting them. Your trainings are going to be the things that you use the most, that apply the most, and that are the most helpful when you're sitting across from somebody. The education programs don't actually prepare you to do this job the way other professions do. It's not like a nursing program where when they finish, they know how to be a nurse. Our programs are not like that, for whatever reason. Those trainings really will inform everything you do and make you great and more effective in what you're trying to do. Plus, get them while you're in school because you get a student discount. Those trainings are expensive, and if you're a student, you get a discount, so you won't have to pay full price later when you really need them.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges right now are that the field itself is slow. Even practices that take insurance, which are usually fine when cash-pay practices like mine are slow, are very slow right now. There are practices around the Valley that have even shut down because we're just in a slow place for whatever reason. I haven't experienced this in 9 years, so that has been a challenge lately. Another challenge is that sometimes the things we need to do, like expanding in social media or expanding in infrastructure, are so expensive that I'm having to push pause and put those things on hold when I really need them, because I need to save up the funds to execute those plans. As for opportunities, being a trauma-informed practice allows us to be in a place to offer deeper level work and treatment that's not offered everywhere. That has created some really great opportunities to either educate in different places or to accept those clients who really need that deeper level of work and provide those services for them.
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