Individual counseling is a one-on-one conversation with a licensed mental health professional in a confidential and supportive setting. Counseling can help you process difficult experiences, manage stress, change behaviors, learn new coping skills, improve relationships, navigate life transitions, and work toward goals that matter to you. Counseling is client-centered, meaning your experiences, cultural identity, values, and goals guide the process. Your counselor works collaboratively with you, listening, respecting your beliefs and experience, providing information where appropriate, processing experiences, and supporting you in making choices and learning skills that feel right for you. Counseling sessions are 50 minutes long and typically take place on a weekly or biweekly basis. 

We provide individual counseling to service members, veterans, and military-connected family members and loved ones. We serve adults ages 18+. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from counseling. Many people seek support for everyday challenges as well as more difficult experiences. 

You can talk about anything that is important to you. Common topics include stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, substance misuse or addiction, life transitions, identity and culture, relationship concerns, grief and loss, trauma or difficult experiences, moral injury, guilt, shame, work or school challenges, personal growth, and finding meaning, purpose, and connection. 

Your first session is an opportunity to get to know your counselor and discuss what brings you to counseling. Your counselor will review the counseling process with you, gather information, and together you will talk about your goals and intentions and decide what feels most helpful moving forward. There is no expectation to share everything; counseling is collaborative and moves at a pace that feels comfortable for you. 

Yes. Our counselors have experience working with military-connected people and understand many of the unique experiences that can accompany military life, including common military ethos and values, deployments, frequent moves, reintegration, family stress, trauma exposure, moral injury, and transitions out of service. Our counselors are STAR Behavioral Health Providers, a community of licensed mental health professionals who are trained in military culture and best practices. Furthermore, our counselors are committed to practicing culturally responsive, trauma-informed care through ongoing personal and professional development and continuing education to provide an environment that honors the intersectionality and lived experiences of the clients we serve. 

Yes. Counseling is confidential, with a few exceptions required by law and professional ethics. At your first appointment, your counselor will explain confidentiality in more detail and answer any questions you may have, so you know what to expect. 

There is no set number of counseling sessions. The length of counseling varies based on your goals, needs, and preferences. You and your counselor will regularly discuss your goals, progress, and experience in counseling. Counseling is a voluntary process, and it may end when your goals have been met, when you choose to stop services, or when you and your counselor determine that another provider or level of care would better meet your needs. If that happens, we will discuss the process with you and help connect you with appropriate resources whenever possible.

Yes. Counseling is most effective when you attend regularly and actively engage in the process – your counselor can’t do the work for you! Change takes time, effort, and a willingness to practice new skills and perspectives both in and outside of sessions. We understand that life happens, and occasional scheduling conflicts arise, but consistent attendance helps you get the most out of counseling. We have an attendance policy, and your counselor will review it with you during your first session and answer any questions you may have. 

Our counselors receive training in a wide variety of modalities and must actively obtain continuing education and clinical supervision to maintain professional ethics and licensure requirements. Some modalities our counselors draw from include motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance commitment therapy (ACT), Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), mindfulness, Internal Family Systems (IFS), community reinforcement approach (CRA), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM), and dance/movement therapy (DMT). 

Workshops are a form of group counseling facilitated by a licensed mental health professional. They bring together people with shared experiences or common goals in a supportive and structured setting. Workshops are typically held weekly and may range from 4 to 16 weeks in length depending on the focus and intent of the group, with sessions lasting 1–2 hours. Workshops are intentionally limited to 5–8 participants to support a contained, supportive environment that allows for meaningful participation and connection. Workshops offer opportunities to learn new skills, obtain new information and perspectives, build insight, try new ways of coping, and process experiences and emotions. Many clients report feeling a sense of relief in realizing they are not alone in what they are experiencing.  

No. Sharing is always invited, never required. Many people find comfort in listening at first and participating more as they become comfortable. We encourage participants to share in ways that support emotional safety for everyone, which includes avoiding graphic or overly detailed descriptions of traumatic experiences. Your facilitator will go over workshop agreements with you in the first session to help maintain a respectful environment. 

Participants are asked to respect the privacy of others and keep what is shared in the group confidential. While facilitators maintain professional confidentiality, they cannot guarantee that every participant will do the same. Creating a culture of respect and privacy is an important part of every workshop, and your facilitator will review workshop agreements and expectations during the first session. 

Our workshops vary throughout the year and may cover topics such as substance use and recovery, trauma education and healing, grief and loss, moral injury, anger management, self-esteem, coping skills, mindfulness, themes surrounding gender and identity, and more. 

No. Participation in fundraising or public relations is not a requirement for receiving services at Paws and Stripes.