Executive Director
Executive Director
Nationally renowned clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Sylvia Gearing has been a pioneer in psychology for over thirty years. Dr. Gearing graduated Magna cum Laude in Psychology from Duke University and completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. She studied at the prestigious Masterson Institute in New York City for several years where she worked with the late James Masterson M.D., an international authority on personality disorders. She has also completed advanced training with world renowned marriage expert Dr. John Gottman, preeminent CBT expert Dr. Judith Beck, and Behavioral Tech, the training and development institute founded by the creator of DBT Dr. Marsha Linehan.
For decades, Dr. Gearing has developed, taught, and personally led Gearing Up’s acclaimed clinical programs that achieve clinical outcomes unlike anything else in Texas. She personally researched, wrote, and presented Gearing Up’s groundbreaking Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program for emotion regulation for both adults and adolescents as well as the new DBT parenting program. She has completed additional training and study in Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Gottman Marital therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and much more.
In addition, Dr. Sylvia Gearing has developed and run intensive outpatient (IOP), inpatient, and residential treatment programs. She has thousands of hours of intensive experience in multiple areas including eating disorders, childhood trauma, substance abuse and addictions, recovery from physical and sexual abuse, PTSD and complex trauma, and much more. Dr. Gearing is a member of the Texas Psychological Association, the Dallas County Psychological Association, and the National Health Service Providers in Psychology.
As an author and TV expert, she has impacted the lives of millions. From 1997 to 1998, she was a frequent contributor in women’s issues on NBC’s Today Show in New York. For almost two decades she has been featured on hundreds of newscasts, radio shows, and talk shows including Dr. Phil, Donahue, Geraldo, and Sally Jesse Raphael. She is a frequent source and contributor for bloggers, academicians, and popular writers, and she has been quoted in numerous self help books. In addition, her television appearances and video blogs have been featured on Huffington Post, AOL.com, and CNN.com.
For over fifteen years, Dr. Gearing has been a psychology expert for DFW CBS 11 News where she has appeared on over 1,500 newscasts. She reported on a variety of topics in psychology, popular news, and research. Since launching in May 2010, her blogs and online videos have drawn millions of views from around the world. Dr. Gearing has been a popular speaker in Dallas and across the country. She has spoken for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, J.C. Penney, Forbes Magazine, Infiniti Automobile, Andrews and Kurth, Deloitte and Touche, and Hunton and Williams. Her speeches capture the unique perspective of a veteran psychologist who has worked in broadcast media for over a decade. These two highly divergent disciplines have shaped her understanding of how to present complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences in an entertaining and effective manner.
Dr. Gearing has been married to Dr. Milton Gearing for over forty years and they have two grown sons and a wonderful daughter in law. The Gearing’s younger son, Chris Gearing, is the CEO of Gearing Up Counseling Centers, Inc. and oversees all marketing, financial, and business matters for the clinic. Dr. Gearing’s older son, Charles, is a commercial litigation attorney in Dallas and her daughter in law, Rachael, is an attorney specializing in health care law.