Vincent J.C. McCastle Sr., MA, Pre-Licensed Professional Counselor | From Struggle to Strength — and Thriving | Anger Management for Adults, Youth (Boys and Girls) and Families | Fayetteville, GA

From Struggle to Strength — and Thriving

And I put those words into every talk, every prayer, and every morning, day and night.

Those words are not a slogan to me. They are the way the work actually goes.

In 1978, as a teenager in Detroit, I walked into a YMCA after-school program to work alongside children.

I have never really left that room.

I have only entered different versions of that one room, filled with purpose, need, and work to be done: a child development center in San Jose, a church where I served as its first Youth Director and Minister, the youth program I founded called Urban Champions, the homes and schools of children who learn differently, and now the counseling office.

Here is what more than four decades have taught me.

People do not come to us as problems. They come carrying a struggle. A slammed door. A son or daughter who goes silent for days. A marriage caught in the same fight. A career that came undone overnight. And beneath nearly every struggle lies a root: a disconnection from ourselves, or from the people who matter most.

Anger is usually a protective emotion. Beneath it, we often find hurt, fear, shame, or the ache of not being heard. It can look different in a boy and in a girl, and I work with both. When that root is understood, and when people begin to experience themselves and one another differently, strengths that were always there begin to rise, and new ones can be built. Strength creates confidence. Confidence creates action. And action creates opportunities to thrive.

My work is grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy and Relational-Cultural Therapy. Both begin with a conviction I hold deeply: most of what hurts grows out of disconnection, and we heal and grow through relationships that help us feel seen, heard, understood, and have positive interactions.

I do not begin with what is wrong. I begin with what is already strong, and we build outward from there.

I work with teen boys and girls and the parents who love them, couples, families, and individuals, in Fayetteville, across Metro Atlanta, and by telehealth across Georgia, through anger management, stress, and struggles across the lifespan and in between, e.g., identity, purpose, and career-related stress. No one is defined by their struggle. Most people are stronger than they realize.”

Call (408) 509-5483 for a free 15-minute consultation. No pressure. No obligation.

Vincent J.C. McCastle Sr., MA, is a Pre-Licensed Professional Counselor practicing under the supervision of Eric Rodgers, MA, LPC, NCC, CMAC, BC-TMH, GCDG, BCC.

If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911 or 988.


▸ Call (408) 509-5483 to schedule a 15-minute consultation.

Experience

Pre-Licensed Professional Counselor under supervision, Private Practice (Doute Counseling Services) · Fayetteville, GA · May 2026 – Present

I walk with children and teen boys and girls and the parents who love them, with couples, families, and individuals, in person and by telehealth across Georgia. The work is anger management for youth and adults, including the family, relationship, and life stressors that can accompany it, grounded in Emotionally Focused and Relational-Cultural approaches. I begin with what is already strong, and we build from there. Practicing under the supervision of Eric Rodgers, MA, LPC, NCC, CMAC, BC-TMH, GCDG, BCC.

Pre-Licensed Professional, Chris 180 — @Promise Center · Atlanta, GA · May 2026 – Present

I serve children and adolescents who are healing from trauma and mental health challenges at the @Promise Center, a program of the Atlanta Police Foundation. My interest began with racial stress and trauma and has widened to the many forms of trauma that touch our diverse communities.

Intern, Georgia Hope · Georgia · Jan 2025

Intern – Therapist. Internship completed during my graduate studies. Provided trauma-informed therapy to a culturally diverse caseload of clients across Georgia. They included youth and their families in biological, blended, foster care, and single-parent households.

Case Manager, Chris 180 · Georgia · July 2023 – Aug 2024

I moved to Georgia in 2023 and joined Chris 180 as a case manager while completing my graduate degree at Pepperdine University, learning day by day what it means to stand with families at their hardest moments.

Case Manager, Ujima Adult & Family Services · San Jose, California · June 2021 – February 2023

I connected adults and families to the support they needed and learned the value of care grounded in African Center psychological principles helped families return to balance. According to the Director, Yvonne Maxwell, LMSW, the main principles were “to love the people we served and shine a light on their strength so they could solve their own problems.”   t. All of the following support that was provided based on those principles included teaching life skills, psychoeducation, and resource navigation. 

Registered Behavior Therapist (former) · Ro Health · Oct 2018

I worked with children who learn differently (e.g., with Autism at various places along the spectrum), in their homes and in their schools. It was here I knew I was being called to deeper clinical work.

Paraprofessional, School Setting · for a variety of schools in the Santa Clara County School District · June 2018

I supported students in the classroom and saw how much a child can change when one adult believes in them and individually applying behavioral modification theory and practices e.g, Applied Behavioral Analysis, like positive reinforcement, to teach them the skills they needed to succeed in life.

Founder, Urban Champions · 2008 – 2013

I founded Urban Champions with a renewed vision for youth development: that every young person deserves to be seen, supported, and built up. Our mission was to assist parents in empowering their children to win in the classroom and in life. 

Youth Director and Minister, San Jose Word of Faith Christian Center · San Jose, CA · 1995

I was the church’s first Youth Director and Minister. I built an age- and stage-appropriate children’s ministry, so that every child had a place to belong to facilitate and strength their moral and spiritual growth.

San Juan Bautista Child Development Centers · San Jose, CA · 1980s

I served children and families in early childhood development as a Teacher’s Aide.

YMCA After-School Program · Detroit, MI · 1978

My first job working with children, while still in high school. Everything since has been the same work in a different room.

Education

• Pepperdine University, Graduate School of Education and Psychology — Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy
• Grand Canyon University — Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Health, emphasis in Child and Adolescent Disorders