Counseling Within Reach
Counseling supports your wellbeing, enhances your life skills, can help you to be more successful in your home and school life, and helps with mental health conditions.
We recognize it is important to get support as quickly as someone is ready for it and presently wait times to have counseling appointments through insurance and even private therapists can take several weeks… sometimes months.
This is taken as a given elsewhere.
At NAMI San Diego & Imperial Counties, we are changing this notion and making sure you can have your first appointment within a matter of days, not weeks.
Why choose us?
Our appointments are via phone or zoom, so you don’t have to carve out extra time in your day or make special travel arrangements.
Far more affordable than other private therapy options. Counseling with private therapists typically costs over $200 per visit and closer to $300 for the initial visit. In contrast, we charge $95 per visit and only $175 for the initial visit.
Little to no wait for appointments. According to the National Council on Mental Wellbeing, the average wait time is roughly six weeks. Ours is typically less than a week!
What is counseling?
Counseling is a collaborative effort between the counselor and client. Counselors help clients identify goals and potential solutions to problems which cause emotional turmoil; seek to improve communication and coping skills; strengthen self-esteem; and promote behavior change and optimal mental health. Counseling is a helping approach that highlights the emotional and intellectual experience of a client: how a client is feeling and what they think about the problem they have sought help for.
Counseling services are conversations between a counselor and a client that focus on a specific problem and how to address or solve it. Counseling services can help with mental health conditions, physical health conditions, difficult life events, or emotions. Counseling services can be delivered in person or through telehealth, depending on the situation and the location of the client. Counseling services may also involve testing, referrals, consultation, outreach, or training.
According to the American Psychological Association (2008), counseling “help people with physical, emotional and mental health issues improve their sense of wellbeing, alleviate feelings of distress and resolve crises;” “Counseling works with clients from childhood through to old age, focusing on “developmental (lifespan), environmental and cultural perspectives.”
What can you expect?
At your first visit, one of our counselors will get to know more about your situation and will begin to provide you support. If you are open to it, we ask you to answer a few questions prior to the visit so that we can spend more time supporting you.
Our counselor will develop a plan and, when you meet again, they will review their ideas with you and fine tune the plan further with you. Your preferences and opinions are very important in therapy (and in life, really). Keep in mind, our counselors are experts of counseling and you are the expert of you. We want to make sure our plan works for you.
Who do we support?
Presently, we specialize in supporting young adults and teenagers who are sixteen years old and older. Given that our services are via phone and zoom, we can support individuals who live anywhere in California.
What do we focus on?
Our counselors can help improve a variety of things, such as:
- Communication with Others
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fear
- Excessive Worry
- Relationships
- Anger
- Frustration
- Irritability
- Sadness
- Loneliness
- Difficulty Connecting
- Difficulty Coping
- Stress
- Substance Use
- Eating Disorders
- Difficulty Communicating
- Poor Academics
- Low Self-Esteem
- Bullying
- Grief
- Coping with changes in school or at home1
- And more!
Do we tell your parents what you discuss during therapy?
We will only speak to your family or others if we have your permission to do so. Typically, even with your permission, we won’t discuss any details; it is more of an overview of what they can expect (estimated # of sessions, goals of sessions, cost, etc.). You can of course, let us know if you want us to share more information with them. You and your family can also let us know if it would be helpful to have a session that includes them.
Of course, if you do not want us to provide information to your family or others, we will keep your information confidential. There is one key exception to this. If we are aware that you are planning to die by suicide, take your life or hurt others, we will take steps to make sure you are safe. This may include informing your family/support network. Since this is an effort to save your life and/or the lives of those around you, we don’t need your permission to do so.
Want more information?
Please email us at reachout@namisd.org
Ready to schedule an appointment?
The counseling within reach program is available for clients. Please see the appointment links below or you can contact us at reachout@namisd.org.
Initial Visit – When you click this link it will take you to another webpage to complete scheduling.
Follow Up (Counseling Session) – When you click this link it will take you to another webpage to complete scheduling.
