Acceptance Path Counseling
Therapy for bipolar disorder
When your moods are hard to predict, steadiness is something you can build.
Counseling for adults living with bipolar disorder: understanding your patterns, catching early warning signs, and building routines that hold up on the hard days.
your patterns.
- Select insurance plans accepted
- Self-pay $100–$150 per session
- For adults in Houston-Willowbrook, The Woodlands, and Katy
- Online across Texas
In crisis or thinking about suicide? Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Counseling here is not an emergency service.
Who you might work with
Licensed counselors, not a waiting list
You are matched with a counselor based on what you need and who is available. These are some of the team.
AJ Huynh
Director · LPC
Works with ACT, CBT and mindfulness-based approaches, with a focus on what matters to you rather than symptoms alone.
Brenda Resendez
Clinical Director · LPC
Blends ACT, CBT and motivational interviewing, adapting the approach to where you are rather than a fixed program.
Ricardo Alvarez
LPC
Draws on mindfulness, IFS and ACT, and offers EMDR at The Woodlands. A gentle, flexible approach that meets you where you are.
Cost and coverage
Know the cost before you begin.
For insured sessions, we verify your benefits and share an estimated out-of-pocket cost before the first session. That estimate is separate from the self-pay rates below.
Self-pay, per session
- Fully licensed clinician
- $150
- Associate clinician
- $100
Tell us if cost is a concern so we can discuss the options available to you.
Plans we currently work with
Coverage, cost, and availability depend on your plan, your eligibility at the time of service, and the clinician you see.
- Aetna
- Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Texas
- UnitedHealthcare
- Cigna
- Oscar
- Oxford
- Horizon BCBS
- BCBS of Massachusetts
- Original Medicare
- UHC Medicare Advantage
- Quest Behavioral Health
- Carelon Behavioral Health
Do not see your plan? Ask our team: consultations are free, and a limited number of sliding-scale openings may be available.
Daily life with bipolar disorder
Your emotions are not the problem. The unpredictability is.
Three nights of four hours and feeling better than you have in months, which is exactly the problem. The purchase, the message, the plan that made complete sense on Tuesday.
Then the weeks underneath it, and the apologies. Being asked how you are and not knowing which week they mean.
Many people start looking for a therapist for bipolar disorder after noticing mood changes that keep affecting their relationships, their work, or how the day goes.
What you might work on
- The first two nightsSleep going short before you feel high, and what you and one other person agree to do when it does.
- The decisions you make up thereMoney, messages, resignations, road trips: a short list, written when you are level, of what waits until you are.
- After an episodeThe bank balance, the friendship, the job: rebuilding without letting the shame become the next low.
- RelationshipsTalk through what mood changes have cost at home and at work.
You can try something between sessions, then talk about what fit and what got in the way.
Understanding bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder does not look the same for everyone
Clinicians describe three diagnoses, which differ in how intense the mood episodes are, and two patterns an episode can take. Knowing which fits can change what helps.
01
Bipolar I
Involves episodes of mania that can significantly affect thoughts, energy, and daily life. Depressive episodes may also occur.
02
Bipolar II
Includes periods of depression and hypomania: a less intense form of mania that can still affect relationships, work, and everyday routines.
03
Cyclothymic disorder
Ongoing mood fluctuations that may not meet the criteria for full manic or depressive episodes, but can still affect daily life.
Patterns an episode can take
04
Mixed episodes
Symptoms of depression and mania at the same time. These can feel confusing and emotionally overwhelming.
05
Rapid cycling
Frequent shifts between mood episodes over time, making emotions and energy levels hard to predict. More on rapid cycling.
What can influence a mood episode
- A family history of bipolar disorder
- Changes in sleep or daily routine
- Ongoing stress or major life changes
- Significant or emotionally overwhelming events
- Alcohol or substance use, for some people
Two things people are rarely told: the depressive side takes up far more of the year than the high side, especially in bipolar II, and most people are first treated for depression alone, often for years, before anyone asks about the highs. If that is your history, say so in the first session.
How we work
Acceptance and commitment therapy, CBT, and mindfulness
Which approach your therapist uses depends on what you bring and what you want to work on, and you can ask about it in the first session.
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Acceptance and commitment therapy
ACT works on what you want your life to stand for, and on moving toward it during a low stretch as well as a high one, without waiting for mood to settle first.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy
CBT looks at the link between a situation, what you think about it, and what you do next. That often means catching the decisions made at the top or bottom of an episode, and what you would rather do instead.
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Mindfulness-based work
Noticing a shift early (in sleep, energy, speed of thought) while there is still room to respond to it rather than only look back on it.
Some counselors also work with motivational interviewing or IFS, and two, Ricardo Alvarez and Maria Landa, offer EMDR at The Woodlands and Katy. See the full team by location for each counselor’s approach.
Getting started
A person to talk to. A place to begin.
Matching starts with what matters to you. You have a say in your goals and in whether the therapist feels like a fit.
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Tell us what you need
Use the matching form to share what brings you here and whether you prefer an office or online sessions.
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Explore your match
Our Clinical Director, a licensed counselor, guides your onboarding and matches you with the provider who fits your needs.
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Start with your day
In your first session, talk about what feels hard and what you would like to work on. You do not need a polished story.
Before your first session
If it helps, you might jot down:
- One recent mood change you noticed
- What was going on around it
- How long it lasted, as best you can tell
These notes are optional. If getting ready feels like one more task, start with whatever you can share that day.
The Reset Guarantee
If the fit is wrong, tell us and we will match you with a different counselor. Your first session with them is free.
Near you, or online
Choose where you meet
Meet in person at one of our three Houston-area offices, or choose telehealth anywhere in Texas.
Houston-Willowbrook
12807 Haynes Rd, Building C1
Houston, TX 77066
The Woodlands
2219 Sawdust Rd, Suite 1204
The Woodlands, TX 77380
Katy
21715 Kingsland Blvd, Suite 105
Katy, TX 77450
Online across Texas
Prefer to meet from home? Explore telehealth counseling in Texas.
Secure video sessions, with the same therapists you would see in an office.
A few questions
Before you start
Have a different question? Ask our team when you get matched, or choose an office to call.
Do I have to be on medication to see you?
No, but for bipolar I, medication is the foundation of treatment in every major guideline, and counseling runs alongside it rather than instead of it. Our counselors do not prescribe, so if you are not on anything and have had a manic episode, expect your counselor to raise it early and, with your permission, talk to your prescriber.
What happens if I get manic while I am seeing you?
Your counselor will tell you what they see, straight, and will already have agreed with you when level what happens next: who gets called, what waits. Counseling here is weekly and outpatient, so if an episode needs a hospital we say so and help you get there, and you can call or text 988 any time.
Is it bipolar disorder, or depression, or BPD?
Depression alone has no highs, though they are easy to miss when they felt like being well; in BPD the shifts run in hours and follow something between people, while a bipolar episode runs for days or weeks on its own clock. Telling them apart is part of assessment, and the BPD and depression pages are the same team.
I have been stable for years. Is there any point?
Stable is when the useful work happens: the early-warning list, the sleep rules, what the people around you are allowed to say to you, and the parts of your life that got smaller after the last episode. It is much harder to build any of that in the middle of one.
Will you talk to my psychiatrist?
With your written permission, yes, and for bipolar disorder we recommend it. What a counselor sees weekly (sleep, speed, spending) is exactly what a prescriber sees too rarely.
Can you help with the damage an episode did?
Yes, and it is often the reason people come. The money, the relationship, the reputation at work: none of it is undone by a steadier mood, and carrying it unaddressed is one of the things that starts the next low.
What if my therapist is not the right fit?
If the fit is wrong, tell us and we will match you with a different counselor. Your first session with them is free.
Can I meet with a counselor online?
Yes. Secure video sessions are available across Texas, with the same therapists you would see at one of our offices.
Your next step
You do not have to navigate this alone.
Living with bipolar disorder can feel unpredictable. Tell us what has been hard and we will help you explore a therapist match.
In crisis? Call or text 988 any time.
Counseling here is not an emergency service.
We provide diagnosis, assessment and therapy. Our clinicians are licensed in Texas as professional counselors, clinical social workers or marriage and family therapists, and none of them prescribe medication; if you see a prescriber, counseling runs alongside that.
