I AM WILSHIRE - LES CARTER

He's Listening

Psychotherapist Les Carter loves to joke that in the early part of his life, his father was in and out of prison—pause—because he was a prison chaplain.

“Early in life, I got a taste of what his world was like and was exposed to people who were struggling and in difficulty,” he said. “In my early teens, I toured mental institutions and went to boys’ reformatories, and I visited summer camps for juvenile offenders.”

While Les’ father was a chaplain at Leavenworth, Les was just 5, and he recalls taking Kool-Aid to the inmate who was mowing the family’s yard.

After his father earned a seminary degree in counseling, he became a consultant to Baptist chaplains. “My mother was a special education teacher, so the helping professions run in the family,” he noted.

Les was born in Augusta, Ga., and lived in Germany, Kansas and Fort Worth before returning to the Atlanta area, his family’s home base, toward the end of his elementary school years.

He graduated from high school in College Park, an Atlanta suburb, where he participated in student government, played on the tennis team, and enjoyed fishing and camping.

He entered Samford University but transferred to Baylor the next year. “I realized I wanted to go into psychology” and needed to be at a university with a larger department, and “my family was moving back to Texas,” he said.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1976, he entered graduate school at the University of North Texas, where he earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical counseling, finishing at age 26. In 1990, Baylor honored him with its Outstanding Young Alumnus award.

In addition to his graduate assistantship, Les gained valuable experience during his two-and-a-half years as an intern at the Life Counseling Center in Dallas.

For 25 years after completing his education, he was on the staff at the Minirth-Meier Clinic in Richardson, developing a specialty in anger management. For 11 years on Fridays during his time there, he anchored a nationwide talk show that aired on Christian radio.

In 2005, Les opened his own practice in Southlake. Still specializing in anger management, he also does marital and family counseling and sees clients with anxiety disorders.

He also leads workshops and seminars nationwide and has authored or coauthored 20 books. Among his solo publications are The Anger Trap and Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Me, which focuses on narcissism. His latest work is Grace & Divorce.

“I hear a lot of problems, but I get to be involved in solutions,” Les said. “That keeps me charged. I love working with my patients and see myself as an agent of hope. I can’t imagine doing any other kind of work.”

Perhaps most important, his work allows him to “live out my Christianity by getting on the front lines and helping those in need.”

He and his wife, Jennifer, who leads a junior high choir in the Richardson Independent School District, have been married for 10 years. He has an adult daughter and one stepdaughter.

Les previously was a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church, where he was a deacon and Sunday School teacher and served on numerous committees. Before joining Wilshire last September, he was a member of Parkway Hills Baptist in Plano and First Baptist Church of Richardson.

He has several family connections at Wilshire. His wife’s sister is Jessica Capps, and Bob and Judy Coleman are also related to him by marriage. Through them he knew of Wilshire’s “wonderful reputation,” and they had asked him for years to try Wilshire.

“Wilshire is known for its theological balance,” a rarity in Baptist circles, Les said. “I love the openness of thought and how God’s grace is presented.”

The Carters are members of Epiphany Class, and he has joined the teaching rotation, which has been “a true blessing” for him.

“In Epiphany Class we realized we had found our home,” he said. “It stretches our minds and encourages us to think beyond the ordinary.”

He is an avid bass fisherman and “will take any piece of meat and put it on the grill in my backyard,” he said. “We take our grilling seriously at the Carter house.”