Counseling can also be called therapy or psychotherapy. It is a professional relationship where you (the client) work with a counselor (also can be called a therapist) who is professionally trained to help you improve your mental health and wellness. Counseling can also help you move towards your educational, career, or personal life goals.

Counselors come from diverse backgrounds, both personally and professionally, and they work with diverse clients to help them overcome obstacles and personal challenges they are facing.

You can be at any age, any gender, in any life stage, from any cultural background, or hold any other kind of identity and be able to benefit from counseling.

Counseling tends to be helpful if you have some kind of personal experience or circumstance that you want to process, a goal you want to work towards, or want to seek some kind of support from a professional.

Confidentiality is one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy/counseling. It is also a legal and ethical obligation for any professionally licensed mental health practitioner (e.g. social worker, counselor, psychologist) to not disclose anything that you tell them in therapy.

Confidentiality means that NO, we do not tell anyone else what you share with us.

However, there are some limits to confidentiality. There are some situations where a mental health professional is legally and ethically required to breach confidentiality. These situations include:

1. Suspected or known abuse of a minor, elderly person, or person with a disability

2. Imminent threat of serious bodily harm to yourself

3. Imminent threat of serious bodily harm to others

4. Another mental health professional sexually exploiting a client

5. A court mandate for a release of records

Additionally, if you are paying for services using insurance, our practice must share certain information with your insurance company to submit a claim and receive payment. These claims may include information like diagnosis, symptoms, and time of visits.

Finally, if you would like us to share information with someone else (such as a medical doctor) or for us to acquire information from someone else (such as a family member), you can provide us written permission to do so by signing a Release of Information form.

If you have any further questions about confidentiality and its limits, we welcome you to ask because we want to make sure you fully understand this before sharing anything potentially sensitive with us. Your counselor or any potential counselor your are considering should be happy to discuss this very important matter and provide clarification as possible.

We provide several kinds of services, including: individual counseling, pre-marital counseling, couples counseling, play therapy, career counseling, and court ordered reunification therapy. We also can provide psychoeducational workshops or presentations on a specific mental health topic. Read more about our services here:https: //www.bridgerivercounseling.com/services

You have a few options:

1. Leave your contact information via the “Contact Us” form, and one of our staff will reach out to you about initial screening & scheduling

2. You can call our main line (214-239-0165) and leave a voicemail. In your voicemail, please include your name, number, a brief explanation of what you’re seeking, and how you heard about us.

3. You can email our main office (info@bridgerivercounseling.com). In your email, please include your name, number, a brief explanation of what you’re seeking, and how you heard about us.

4. You can email some of our providers directly since some of them list their emails on their bio page. In your email, please include your name, number, a brief explanation of what you’re seeking, and how you heard about that provider.

After this initial contact, one of our staff will reach out to you for initial screening. From there, we will help you get connected with a provider, who will send you any necessary paperwork before scheduling your first session together!

You can get to know our counselors through their bio pages. Clients often choose a counselor based on different factors including: the specialties of the counselor, the age group that the counselor typically works with, the availability of the counselor, the cost of services, the identity/personality of the counselor, among other considerations.

You are welcome to read about our counselors and choose whoever you think fits you best: https://www.bridgerivercounseling.com/about-me

To participate in telehealth effectively, you need a few things:

• A computer/laptop/phone

• Working microphone, speakers, and a camera

• A secure and stable internet connection

• A private space where you will not be overheard or interrupted

• To be physically located in the state that your counselor is licensed in (often Texas, some counselors may be licensed in additional states)

• To remain in a consistent location (not walking around or in a moving vehicle) during the appointment and willing to verify your location

For telehealth appointments, please make sure you have full privacy with no one else in the room, camera on, sitting upright, and fully dressed.

For in-person appointments, you will need:

• To know which location you are meeting your counselor. We have two different locations, one in Dallas and one in Frisco.

• A form of transportation to your appointment

• To arrive at least 5 minutes early (if it's your first time, it's helpful to give yourself even more time to find the location)

For our Dallas address (17304 Preston Road, Suite 800, Dallas, TX 75252):

• You can park anywhere in front of the building where it says 2 hr visitor parking, and those 2 hours would be free.

• When you come in, you'll go up to the 8th floor lobby, suite 800.

• You can tell the receptionist at the front desk that you are here to see [your counselor's name], and the receptionist will notify your counselor.

For our Frisco address (6136 Frisco Square Blvd Ste 400, Frisco, TX 75034):

• You can park anywhere in front or behind the building. There is free visitor parking for 2 hours.

• When you come in, you'll go up to the 4th floor lobby, suite 400.

• You can tell the receptionist at the front desk that you are here to see [your counselor's name], and the receptionist will notify your counselor.

Our clinic and our counselors are not available 24/7. We do not have 24-hour crisis counseling. However, we want you to know that there are resources you can contact for immediate help.

If you have a life-threatening emergency, you can call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.

If you are having a mental health crisis, you can contact these other resources below.

National:

• 988 | Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

• 1-800-273-TALK (8255) | National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

• 800-656-HOPE (4673) | National Sexual Assault Hotline

Dallas-Specific:

• 214-828-1000 | Dallas Suicide and Crisis Center

• 817-335-3022 | Ft. Worth/Tarrant County Crisis Line

• 800-762-0157 | Denton County Crisis Line

• 800-451-1659 | Ellis/Johnson/Navarro County Crisis Line

• 903-957-4701 | Grayson/Cooke/Fannin County Crisis Line

We welcome you to let your counselor know if you had a crisis and needed to contact one of these resources in-between sessions.