Do I need to see a professional counselor?
A variety of situations and reasons may lead you to pursue counseling, from long-standing mental health struggles such as anxiety and depression, or in response to challenging life circumstances. Counseling can also help you deal with unresolved trauma or hurt that continues to affect your mental well-being.
How is Christian counseling different from secular counseling?
While secular counseling can provide insight into your personal situation, it often fails to address the deeper issues causing pain in your life. Many of our unwanted behaviors flow from our beliefs (of which we are not always consciously aware), and Christian counseling can help you address the root of those beliefs. Christian counseling provides a unique blend of psychology to examine how your mind functions, along with theology to explain how God made us and how change can happen.
Lasting healing is most often found in dealing with things on a heart level, as opposed to the superficial management of symptoms.
I’m not a Christian – can I still see someone at Kingdom Counseling?
Yes! While our beliefs help form the foundation of how we approach counseling, we serve people of all faiths, beliefs, and walks of life.
How should I make the most of my therapy experience?
Before you begin your first session, you may be unsure of what to talk about or where to start, and you may have certain ideas and expectations. Here are few tips to help you make the most of your experience:
- Take an active role in your session – share the difficulties or emotions you are experiencing. Consider what your goal(s) may be for counseling.
- Be open and honest with your counselor – it’s okay to talk about things that feel embarrassing or scary.
- Ask questions if there’s something you don’t understand or feel uncertain about.
Is what I say in counseling confidential?
Your information is confidential under HIPAA privacy rule standards, and will not be shared without your consent. You can be confident in the privacy of what you share with your therapist, as well as in the confidentiality of any private information kept in our system. We are, however, mandated reporters, which legally and ethically requires us to report child or elderly abuse, and suicidal/homicidal threats. If a situation requires us to submit a report, this will not be done without your knowledge.
What can I expect from my first session?
Your therapist will want to get to know you and will spend much of the first session gathering background information and hearing what you hope to get out of counseling. You will have a chance to share what difficulty you are facing and what your goal(s) may be. Your therapist may share their recommended frequency for you to meet with them, and you can decide together if you’d like to schedule additional sessions at that time.
What time commitment should I expect each week for sessions?
Appointments are scheduled in 1-hour increments and will last between 50 and 60 minutes. Your therapist may also have homework or recommended reading to complete between sessions.
How long will I be in counseling?
People come to counseling for a wide variety of reasons, so treatment length also varies significantly. Your counselor will collaborate with you to discuss your treatment, set goals, and help you determine what you need depending on your situation. This isn’t something that needs to be decided upfront, and there is no minimum requirement for how many sessions a person must complete. Meeting approximately every other week is the most typical frequency of meetings, but this can vary to meet the needs of each client.
One of the goals of Kingdom Counseling is for our clients to need counseling less and less over time as they grow and progress towards their goals.
Do you accept insurance?
Yes, we accept some insurances so please be sure to check with your insurance carrier to confirm your therapist is in-network prior to your first appointment.
Some insurance carriers provide “out-of-network” benefits. If your therapist is not listed as an in-network provider, explore if your plan offers out-of-network benefits. If your sessions are not covered by insurance you may choose to pay privately.
Do you accept Medicaid, Iowa Total Care, Medicare, or Amerigroup?
No, we do not accept any of these insurances. For a list of in-network providers in your area, you can call the number on your insurance card.
Can you prescribe medication?
Yes! We have one medication prescriber on staff: Michelle Kubik PA-C
*Michelle will not prescribe controlled substances at the first visit.
What do I do if I need help right away?
We are not always able to accommodate emergency sessions, as your therapist may already be booked in the timeframe you are wanting.
As an outpatient private practice, we are not available outside of office hours and we do not have an emergency line. If you are having suicidal thoughts, or if you have any other emergency, please call 911 or go to your local emergency room right away.
What if things aren’t working?
If you feel the sessions aren’t meeting your expectations, we encourage you to bring this up with your counselor. They may be able to help identify what’s hindering you or identify different approaches that may be able to help in your specific situation. If the situation doesn’t improve or there is simply not a good fit with your therapist, we will be glad to offer you a referral to other therapists in the area.
What is Collaborative Care?
Collaborative care is a more holistic, integrated healthcare model where multiple providers treating the same client can coordinate their care to increase treatment effectiveness.
At Kingdom Counseling, this means that if you see one of our therapists for counseling and our physician assistant for medication management, your providers can coordinate their treatment and recommendations to complement each other’s work with you. This comes at no additional cost for you.
Since different types of providers bring different skill sets and perspectives to the table, research indicates the client will be better served and will often experience greater treatment effectiveness when in a collaborative care practice.
What is Kingdom Counseling’s position on the use of psychiatric medication?
We believe psychiatric medication can be a helpful means of improving mental health for those facing life’s challenges or navigating chemical imbalances in their bodies, but view it as supplemental and not primary in the treatment of mental health. While not every person in therapy should consider or pursue psychiatric medication, there are times when medication can benefit the therapeutic process. We do not see medication as the first or second line of defense, but as a tool to employ when other options have not been effective.
We recognize that our bodies have been subject to the Fall and are susceptible to experiencing chemical and hormonal imbalances that can affect our emotional, physical, cognitive, relational, professional, and spiritual health. Although psychiatric medications have often been misused or abused, we hope to offer a higher standard of practice that seeks to honor our clients and minimize the need for medication over time.
Our medication prescriber’s goals include:
- Improved management of already prescribed psychiatric medications
- Overall decrease in the number and dosage of medications
- Decreased need and dependence on medication when possible
- Help establish client’s mental health and emotional stability enough for increased effectiveness of their counseling work with their therapist
- Collaborate with therapists to maximize treatment progress
Ready to find hope and healing through Kingdom Counseling?
Professional counseling provides an opportunity for growth and healing, no matter what you’re facing. Together, we can walk through life’s challenges and help you live the life God intends for you.