
David Elkins
Co-Founder of Brentwood Counseling Associates

Dr. Elkins brought decades of clinical experience (psychotherapy, consulting, testing) to his role as the Director of the Assessment team. His testing focus was with older adolescents and adults, and he specialized in ADHD evaluations. He had been part of BCA since 1984 and was the co-founder and Director of the Assessment team when The Learning Lab, an education tutoring, testing, and consulting center, opened in 1985. In addition, he had been a consultant with Williamson County Schools and Franklin Special School District.
John David Elkins was born November 5, 1947 in Houston, Texas, 2nd child of Daniel and Carol Elkins.
He grew up in Bellaire, Texas with his four siblings where he rode his bike to the local library, mowed lawns, played sports, attended church with his family at Richmond Plaza Baptist church; took youth trips to Glorietta, New Mexico; and played basketball and baseball at Bellaire High School. During his teen years, David felt God was leading him into church ministry and later into counseling.
David attended Houston Baptist College (now Houston Christian University) where he met and later married Pat Elkins and became Student Body President his senior year. After graduation, he earned a Master’s degree in psychology at Stephen F. Austin University and then on to Peabody College (now of Vanderbilt University) earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, in Nashville where his daughter Lisa was born in 1976. Following a one-year internship at the VA Hospital and then to California for two years in the Air Force, David and Pat moved back to Houston and set up a private practice, helped start Covenant Church, and orchestrated raising awareness and resources to bring water services to the community of Bordersville, TX. His son Chris was born in Houston in 1979. Although his roots were in Texas, his love for Nashville was strong. With his two children, he and Pat moved back to Tennessee in 1984. David joined Brentwood Counseling Center (now Brentwood Counseling Associates), served as consulting psychologist for Franklin Special School District and helped start The Learning Lab in Brentwood.
David will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, devoted friend, man of faith, and respected psychologist.
Family and work life were high priorities for him. Also, when in season, you could find him watching the Houston Astros and showing up for the Tennessee Titans games on Sunday afternoons. He supported his four grandchildren in their school and sporting events whether in Brentwood (where his daughter and family live) or in Charlotte, NC (where his son and family now live).
David loved the outdoors, whether he was working in his yard, walking in the neighborhood, taking trips to his parents’ farm in Texas, or spending time in the Smoky Mountains.
Church community was instrumental in David’s life, as he and family joined Glendale Baptist Church in 1985, then attended Crievewood Baptist, where he served as a Sunday School teacher, then moved to Edgehill United Methodist Church where he and Pat volunteered with Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership, specifically within the Free Store. In 2022, he moved membership to Brentwood United Methodist and joined the Connections Sunday School Class. He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2020, and fought the good fight up until Christmas Eve, 2024.