SMU Classmates Found Thread Counseling Group

By John Holt

Ahou Line and Kristina McCook met nearly a decade ago while sitting beside each other in their first graduate school class, Lifespan Development, at SMU.

“We just struck up a friendship,” McCook said.

That friendship bloomed into a professional partnership. In January 2024, the two moms with a like-minded mission co-founded Thread Counseling Group.

Line, who now has her doctorate, entered SMU’s program following a stint with Teach For America (TFA), where she taught middle school language arts teachers before becoming director of learning and development. 

“I think there was a piece of me that was like, “I absolutely love teaching, but I am finding how much more I enjoy supporting the social-emotional needs of my students, and I wonder if I could find a career that allowed me to do more of that.’” the Persian American explained.

McCook, who had worked in human resources before becoming a stay-at-home mom, decided to pursue a new career after seeing the struggles her two children (now ages 21 and 18) faced.

“Some of these were very typical challenges that kids go through,” McCook said. “I really wanted to understand it from a developmental perspective, and I wanted to know how to respond to ensure they felt supported.”

The possibility of opening a shared practice percolated as Line and McCook earned their clinical hours at SMU’s Center for Family Counseling and supervised other graduate students. 

McCook recalled their conversations. “Wouldn’t it be so fun to work together?’”

That “fun” followed serious conversations about long-term vision and working through such details as finding a space, building a website, acquiring clients, and branding themselves.

McCook came to the new venture from another private practice while Line had been training graduate students at the University of North Texas.

“(Kristina) is the best therapist I have ever worked with,” Line said. “She is so practical and so meticulous and intentional. I feel like she grounds me in so many ways.”

McCook echoed similar praise for Line.

“(Ahou’s) a spectacular clinician,” McCook said. “I very much trust her. She’s so supportive of me if I have a challenge, and I love her as a friend.”

Line came up with the Thread name.

Line describes Thread as more than a name.

“Thread represents the connection between us and our clients,” Line said. “When we work with children, we always consider how parents are involved in the process. When we work with parents and adults, we recognize that they don’t exist in a vacuum and there are so many other ‘threads’ that help us understand them holistically.”

John Holt is a public relations professional and content writer for Good Shepherd Episcopal School