Houston-Willowbrook office · in person and online
Trauma and PTSD Therapy in Houston Willowbrook, TX
For the memory that still arrives uninvited, the places you steer around, and the part of you that never quite stands down. Weekly one-to-one counseling for trauma and PTSD at our Haynes Road office off 249, or by video from anywhere in Texas.
- 12807 Haynes Rd, Houston 77066
- Insurance billed at your plan’s rate
- Self-pay $150, or $100 with an associate
- Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm
- Usually seen within about a week
In crisis or thinking about suicide? Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
Counselors at this office
What it can look like
What trauma can leave behind
There does not have to be a single event to point to. Some of what people bring happened once, and some of it happened for years.
It still arrives uninvited
A smell, a song or a tone of voice, and for a moment you are back there. It can happen years later, on an ordinary day.
Avoiding places and people
Some roads, rooms and conversations are easier to skip. Over time the list gets longer and life gets smaller.
On guard all the time
You notice every exit and every change in the mood of a room. Resting can feel like letting your guard down.
If it is PTSD
When it has become PTSD
PTSD is one specific pattern that can follow trauma. Many people arrive months or years after the event, wondering why it has not faded yet.
Memories that replay
It comes back as pictures, sounds or a feeling in the body, often when you least expect it. Nightmares can carry it into the night too.
Startle and sleep
A door slams and your whole body reacts. Falling asleep, or staying asleep, has become its own project.
Steering around reminders
Certain places, dates, people or news stories get avoided without much thought. It helps in the short term and costs more every month.
In the sessions
What trauma and PTSD counseling works on
- Feeling steady right nowGrounding skills for the moment a reminder hits, so you have something to do besides wait it out.
- The blame you carryA careful look at what was and was not in your control back then, at a pace that stays manageable.
- Feeling far from yourselfReconnecting with feelings and with your body, when switching them off was how you coped.
- Getting life back to full sizePicking back up the roads, rooms and plans that got dropped, one at a time, starting wherever feels most manageable.
- Nights and nightmaresWind-down routines and ways to settle after a nightmare, so the night is less of a battle.
- The memory, in piecesWhen you are ready and not before, working through what happened in manageable parts, with your counselor alongside you.
- Feeling cut off from peopleGetting back to the people you have drifted from, including how much to tell them and when.
- Knowing what you are dealing withWorking out together whether it is PTSD, so the plan fits what you are actually living with.
How the work goes
Trauma and PTSD therapy at our Houston-Willowbrook office
The work goes at your pace: steadiness in the present first, then what the experience left you believing about danger, blame and yourself.
Most of it draws on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
Do I have to talk about what happened?
Not to get started. Many people begin with what is happening now: sleep, the startle, the things they have stopped doing.
How much you share about the past, and when, is up to you. Your counselor will not push for the details.
Who you might meet
Who you might see in Houston-Willowbrook
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AJ Huynh
Director · LPC
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Brenda Resendez
Clinical Director · LPC
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Leah Van Leuven
LCSW
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Cathy Birden
LPC
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Christopher Walker
LPC
Google reviews
What clients of this office have written
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I’ve been going to [my counselor] for a couple of months now and I am so glad to have found him. We were able to click right away and I continue to look forward to our sessions…
R.S. -
Really appreciated my session with [my counselor]. He listens without judgment and offers a fresh, modern perspective that actually makes sense…
A.H.
Cost
What counseling costs here
We check your benefits first and tell you the estimated cost before you book. It stays an estimate until your plan confirms it.
Plans we currently work with
Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Original Medicare and seven more: see all twelve plans. Medicaid is not one of them, and we cannot bill it.
Before you book
Questions about trauma and PTSD therapy in Houston-Willowbrook
Does what happened have to be big to count as trauma?
What matters is how it is still affecting you, not how it would sound to someone else.
A diagnosis is not needed to start, and neither is a full account of what happened.
Is it trauma or PTSD?
Trauma is what happened, and what it left behind. PTSD is one specific pattern that can follow it: memories that replay, steering around reminders, and feeling on guard, lasting more than a month.
Many people carry trauma without having PTSD, and both are worth working on. Sorting out which fits is part of the first sessions, and counselors here work with both.
Do I need a PTSD diagnosis to see a therapist here?
Many people with PTSD symptoms have never been assessed, sometimes because the event was years ago. Start with what is getting in the way now: sleep, the startle, the places you avoid.
Is it complex PTSD or BPD?
Complex PTSD, a diagnosis in the ICD-11 but not the DSM-5, adds lasting trouble with emotions, self-worth and relationships to the core PTSD pattern, usually after long or repeated trauma. BPD can look similar, but it more often involves fear of being left and a shifting sense of self, where complex PTSD tends toward a steady sense of being worthless.
The overlap is real, and clinicians still debate where the line sits. Sorting out which fits is part of the first sessions, and we also offer BPD treatment in Houston-Willowbrook.
Is PTSD treatment here trauma-focused?
It looks at the trauma directly, at a pace you set. CBT is used to test the conclusions the event left behind, and ACT to loosen the hold of the reminders you avoid.
Do you offer EMDR at this office?
Counselors here work from CBT and ACT, and EMDR is not offered at this office. If EMDR matters to you, mention it on the form and we will talk through your options before you book.
What is a first session like?
It starts with one short form, in your own words. We read it, match you with a counselor, and tell you the estimated cost before you book.
From there you can start with a free consultation or go straight to a first session with your counselor. Sessions are weekly and one to one, in person at our Haynes Road office or by secure video from anywhere in Texas.
You will not be asked to go through what happened, and “not yet” is a normal answer.
What if the first counselor is not the right fit?
Tell us. Fit matters more than almost anything else in whether counseling helps, so we do not treat it as a complaint.
Under the Reset, your first session with a new counselor is free. The Reset is about fit only, not a promise about results.
Also at this office
Related counseling in Houston-Willowbrook
Start with what this week has been like
Acceptance Path Counseling provides weekly counseling from licensed Texas counselors, in person at our Houston-Willowbrook office and by secure video across Texas. We are not a psychiatry practice and do not prescribe medication.
We do not offer group therapy, psychological testing, or intensive or inpatient programs, and will help you find them if you need them. Counseling is not an emergency service.
In crisis or thinking about suicide? Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.