Counseling near me, from licensed counselors in your area

Counseling is a conversation with a trained, licensed professional, usually once a week or every other week, often for about 50 minutes. The first meeting tends to be an intake: the counselor asks what brings you in, a little about your history and what you would like to be different. After that, sessions follow your pace and your goals.

People sometimes use the words counseling and therapy as if they meant different things. In everyday use they overlap almost completely. Some clinicians call their work counseling when it is shorter and focused on a specific situation, and therapy when it goes deeper over a longer time, but there is no firm rule. Our guide on counselor vs therapist walks through how the titles are used.

Counselors draw on different approaches. Some work in a structured way, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, and others are more open-ended and conversational. Neither is automatically better, and many people simply notice which style they feel comfortable with.

The title counselor is used loosely in some places, so the license behind it matters.

• Licensed professional counselors hold LPC, LMHC, LPCC or a similar state title, depending on the state.
• Clinical social workers (LCSW) provide counseling in clinics, hospitals and private practice.
• Marriage and family therapists (LMFT) see individuals as well as couples and families.
• Psychologists offer counseling and are also trained in psychological testing.
• Addiction counselors hold state credentials that vary in name, and the addiction counselor page explains more.

Each listing on NearbyTherapy shows the credential reported to the federal NPI Registry, and claimed profiles show a License verified badge.

Start broad with your location. If you add filters such as a concern, insurance or a price range, they match claimed profiles, where the counselor has entered that information themselves. Those profiles also show whether sessions are online or in person and include an inquiry form.

Further down, the list of More licensed providers in your city comes straight from the public registry. Those listings show a name, credential, practice address and phone, plus an Unclaimed badge. They are real licensed providers who simply have not added details yet, so calling the practice is the quickest way to ask about openings and fees.

Many health plans include outpatient mental health benefits, and federal parity law generally requires plans that cover mental health to do so on terms comparable to medical care. In practice your cost depends on whether the counselor is in network, your deductible and your copay. Without insurance, fees vary widely by city and credential, often somewhere between about 100 and 250 USD per session as broad public information, and some counselors offer a sliding scale. See therapy without insurance and the Medicaid therapist page for more.

Browse an anxiety therapist, a depression therapist, bereavement counseling, marriage counseling or an ADHD therapist.