Gregory M. Wilson MDiv, MSS, LCSW

Therapy is the process of coming together with a licensed and trained mental health provider to explore long-term patterns of behavior and connection. The therapist and client embark on a relationship of exploration, in a safe setting, to explore how the client might meet the goals they set.

Anyone can call themselves a "life coach" with no training or licensing. Social workers, counselors, psychologists, and licensed marriage and family therapists have graduate training in counseling. They have explored issues like human development, psychology, social concerns, as well as a variety of treatment modalities. Professional therapists also go through a rigorous licensing and continuing education processes within their state. Therapy is often covered by insurance while life coaching is not.

Clients usually come to therapy when they have decided they would like to change something about themselves, their relationships, or explore patterns of behavior. Such realities have often taken many years to form in the person's life. Change can also take some time and persistent work with a counselor. Some clients might only need a few sessions. Most clients will need a longer time-frame to unpack what they would like to explore. A good safe starting point is to consider six initial sessions.

Prior to your first session, you will discuss your concerns with your therapist over the phone to determine if the therapist is a good fit. Initial sessions will involve a good deal of exploration by the therapist. After a session or two, together you will determine goals, a treatment schedule, and what treatment will look like. Some sessions involve exploring long-term issues such as trauma. Other clients come to work on day-to-day skills or relationships.

Therapy is most effective when clients come weekly. Exploring regular, day-to-day interactions is an important way to discern how change might occur.

Sessions are 53 minutes and occur on the hour.

Therapy is about forming a relationship with the therapist in a safe setting. The therapeutic relationship is a model for other relationships in life. Sometimes therapy can feel uncomfortable. Please discuss these feelings with your therapist. Should you feel you would like to discontinue your work, please discuss this as well. Your therapist will be respectful of your decision but successful closure may take a session or two. Because therapy is about forming a relationship, how you leave therapy is often as important as the work that you do within therapy.

In couples' counseling, the relationship (not either partner) is the client. Sometimes an early and ongoing question is whether it is possible to continue a relationship. There are times when the answer to continuing is "no." Having this conversation with a neutral, trained, third party can help make it more manageable and healthy. Other times, the work might center on how partners might develop skills and work toward the healing of past hurts. Still other times, couples may simply want a "tune-up" for ongoing issues in their relationship. Couples counseling is about a couple's desire to explore their relationship in a healthy way.

Yes! We may take your policy. We are adding new policies every day. Like any medical appointment, clients are responsible for deductibles and co-pays, as per the rules of their policy.

Current Counseling Services offers private pay. Your therapist can discuss hourly rates with you. If you have out-of-network insurance benefits, you may be able to get a reimbursement for some portion of this cost. Please check with your insurance company about out-of-network benefits and policies before your first session. There are some slots for a sliding scale, reduced fee available to low-income clients.

Someone will be in contact with you within 24 hours after submitting a webform or voicemail.