PTSD and post-traumatic stress
PTSD counseling for adults
It was over a long time ago. Nobody has told your body.
A PTSD therapist works on what the event left behind: the memory that arrives without asking, the places you route around, and a nervous system that never fully stands down. Weekly counseling, in person in the Houston area or online anywhere in Texas.
Nothing asked of you.
- 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, matched to what you need
You are matched with a counselor based on what you need and who is available. These are some of the team.
Tell us that PTSD is what you want to work on, and whether you want a counselor who works with EMDR, and we will take both into account when we match you.
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
Matching may include an associate clinician. 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
The event was one day. The alarm has been on ever since.
Sitting where you can see the door. A smell, a song, a tone of voice, and you are not in the room any more.
The exit you drive past because the other way is longer but does not go near it. Waking at three with your heart going, and lying there until it is light.
None of that is weakness. It is a nervous system that did exactly what it was built to do on the worst day, and has not been told it can stop.
It can be told. That is most of the work.
What you might work on
- The two seconds after a soundWhat your body does before you have decided anything, and how to get the next ten seconds back.
- Back in the roomGrounding that works when a memory arrives, practiced in session, not read off a card.
- The routes you take insteadNaming what you avoid and what each detour costs, before deciding which ones to keep.
- The anniversaryThe date, the season, the news story that brings it back on schedule, and how to plan for a week you already know is coming.
You can try something between sessions, then talk about what fit and what got in the way.
Understanding PTSD
What PTSD is, in plain terms
Post-traumatic stress disorder is what it is called when the after-effects of something that happened do not fade on their own, usually in four parts that people recognize before they have a name for them. These are a starting point for a conversation, not a test you have to pass to deserve help.
01
It comes back without asking
Not a memory you go looking for, one that arrives, often in the body before the mind. Counseling works on changing its arrival from an ambush into something you can feel coming and meet.
02
The places you route around
People, roads, conversations, the news. Each avoidance is sensible on its own, and together they buy relief now at the price of a smaller life later.
We look at the price before deciding anything.
03
Never quite off duty
The startle that is out of proportion, the seat facing the door, the scan of every room. It is exhausting in a way that is hard to explain to someone who has not done it.
04
Feeling nothing, on purpose
Numbness is a strategy, and it works. It also flattens the good things and puts distance between you and the people closest to you, which is usually what brings someone in.
05
What you believe now
That it was your fault. That nowhere is safe.
That you are separate from everyone in the room. These beliefs arrived with the event and can be examined without anyone telling you how to feel.
06
Three in the morning
Sleep that does not come, or does not hold, and dreams that are not always about the event. It is one of the first things counseling aims at, because everything else is harder without it.
What can contribute
- Assault, an accident, or a medical emergency
- Combat, or first-responder work
- Childhood abuse or neglect
- Seeing someone die or be badly hurt, or learning that it happened to someone close
- Living with danger for a long time, not one day of it
- A nervous system that was already running hot
Most people who go through something terrible do not develop PTSD, and having it says nothing about your strength. If you want to read more first, see how trauma affects the brain.
If what happened never became a diagnosis (if it was childhood, or a relationship, or many things over years rather than one) start at trauma counseling; the counselors are the same.
How we work
How PTSD counseling works here
Three things happen here, usually in this order, and mindfulness runs through all of them. This is weekly individual counseling with one therapist.
Nobody is asked to retell the event in the first session, and you can ask about the approach at any point and change your mind later.
-
Steadying first
Before any memory is worked on, the body’s alarm gets quieter: sleep, grounding, the two seconds after a sound. Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness, aimed at the week you are actually having.
-
Working with the memory
What the event left you believing (about danger, about blame, about yourself) is looked at directly and at a pace you set, using CBT. Two counselors on this team, Ricardo Alvarez and Maria Landa, are trained in EMDR, an approach with strong evidence for PTSD; if EMDR is what you want, say so when you ask to be matched and we will tell you plainly who has room.
-
Acceptance and commitment therapy
ACT works on what the avoiding has cost and what you want back (the drive, the crowd, the conversation) and on doing it with the fear still present rather than waiting for it to leave.
Getting started
You will not be asked to start with the worst part.
Matching starts with what matters to you. You have a say in your goals and in whether the therapist feels like a fit.
-
Tell us what you need
Use the matching form to share what brings you here and whether you prefer an office or online sessions.
-
Explore your match
We suggest a counselor based on what you shared, who is available, and whether you want an office or online. You can ask about their approach before you decide.
-
Start where you are
In your first session, talk about what feels hard. Nobody will ask you to do anything you have been avoiding on day one.
Before your first session
If it helps, you might jot down:
- How long ago it was, and roughly what kind of thing: a sentence is enough
- What you have stopped doing, going to, or watching since
- One thing you would like back
These notes are optional. You do not need a log, a count, or a tidy history: bring whatever you can say that day.
The Reset Guarantee
If the fit is wrong, your first session with a new counselor 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
Online across Texas
Prefer to meet from home? Explore telehealth counseling in Texas.
Online sessions run the same way as an office visit, with the same counselors. If the hard part is the drive, the waiting room, or being somewhere you cannot leave quickly, starting on video is a reasonable first step, and you can move to an office later.
A few questions
Before you start
Have a different question? Ask our team when you get matched.
Do I need a PTSD diagnosis to see a therapist for PTSD?
No, many people arrive with a word a doctor used once, or a partner used, or the internet used. Working out whether it fits is part of the first few sessions, not a gate standing in front of them.
Will I have to talk about what happened?
Not in the first session, and never all at once: some of the work looks at the memory directly and some of it does not. The pace is yours, and saying “not yet” is a normal part of the process rather than a setback.
Do you offer EMDR?
Two of our counselors, Ricardo Alvarez and Maria Landa, are trained in EMDR and work with it alongside ACT, IFS and mindfulness. We are not an EMDR clinic and we do not run intensives; if you want EMDR specifically, tell us when you ask to be matched and we will say plainly who has room and what the alternative is.
Is it PTSD or complex PTSD?
Roughly: one event with a clear before and after, versus many over years and often starting early, with complex PTSD adding the shame, the trouble trusting people, and the sense of being fundamentally different. Both are worked with here by the same counselors, and our post on complex PTSD goes into the differences.
Do I need medication as well?
Two antidepressants are approved for PTSD and some people take one alongside counseling, but talk therapy is the recommended first treatment, so medication is an option rather than a requirement. Our counselors do not prescribe; if you see a prescriber, the two run side by side.
Can PTSD actually get better?
Yes, and for most people substantially: the memory does not get deleted, but what it does to you when it arrives, how long it lasts, and how much of your week it takes all change. “Cured” is the wrong word; smaller, quieter and further apart is the right one.
Can I meet with a counselor online?
Yes, secure video sessions are available across Texas, with the same counselors you would see at one of our offices. Telehealth counseling in Texas has the details.
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.
Your next step
The past is not going anywhere. You can start anyway.
Tell us what keeps coming back, and we will help you find a counselor.
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.
We do not run a residential or intensive day program; this is weekly outpatient counseling.
