The Apple Counseling Network is a family of mental health therapy practices which started in 1996. The family of brands include Apple Counseling, Family Tree Counseling, and Heritage Behavioral Center. Historically, each brand had a different focus with Apple Counseling serving a broad base of clientele, Family Tree Counseling offering services primarily on a slide scale fee basis, and Heritage Behavioral Center focused on Medicare clients. Today, these practices operate as one and offer a full spectrum of services.

We believe that establishing a strong relationship between clients and therapists is paramount to achieving the best results. Therefore, we offer a wide variety of therapists with different personalities and styles to enable clients to choose the best match for who they would like to see. The relationship begins with an onboarding process and sessions between the client and therapist to build understanding and trust.

Apple Counseling lets clients choose how to interact with their therapist through in-person, live video, or text interactions. Once on-boarded, clients are able to schedule sessions online at their convenience. This empowers the client to be able to obtain therapy however, whenever, and wherever they want.

Due to the size of our network, Apple Counseling can offer a team-based approach to helping our clients. Our therapists have a very wide breadth of experience and expertise and each can tap into our network to obtain other therapists’ knowledge and perspective when addressing a particular issue. We find it is not unusual for individuals to be dealing with multiple, disparate issues where an individual therapist may be more experienced in one area than another. In addition, our therapists often create a team to be able to provide individual support for couples or family members. Each individual can choose his or her own therapist. Then the therapists are able to consult with each other to understand the full picture and produce the best outcomes.

Finally, Apple Counseling offers therapy for every budget whether utilizing insurance or paying yourself.

Therapists at Apple Counseling are carefully screened and interviewed in person prior to being able to join our company. The therapists can be in different stages of their careers to allow us to provide the widest range of solutions for our clients. The vast majority are licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed professional counselors (LPC) and / or licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT). These therapists have a Master’s Degree or a Doctorate Degree in their field and oftentimes specialized expertise (e.g., substance abuse (LCDC), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), etc.). They have been qualified and certified by their state’s professional board after successfully completing the necessary education, exams, training and practice. While their experience, expertise and background vary, they all possess at least a year and a half and 1,500 hours of hands-on experience. We also offer therapists who are Associates that have completed their Master’s Degree and possess hands-on experience. Finally, we offer therapists who are studying for their Master’s Degree and are gaining hands-on-experience.

Therapist backgrounds are published on applecounseling.com enabling clients to make an informed choice about their therapist.

Therapists are required to provide proper licensure documentation, proof of identity, and references from other licensed practitioners who have worked with them. We then cross-check their licensure information with their respective state licensing board.

Apple Counseling offers a wide variety of payment options. We accept most major insurance and plans including Medicare. Our experience is that insurance co-pays generally range from $0 to $40 per session and most EAPs are no charge. We also offer sliding scale fee options as low as $25 per session. Our texting service offers two plans at $20 per week or $50 per week (unfortunately, insurance companies do not cover text services).

You can get counseling in four ways:

• Meeting in-person with your therapist
• Video conferencing with your therapist
• Speaking over the phone with your therapist
• Exchanging text messages with your therapist (as part of text subscription service)

You can use different ways at different times as you wish, based on your needs, availability, and convenience.

All therapists are available to meet via video conferencing or phone. However, we allow therapists to operate with other communication channels as they see fit. Some therapists at this time are choosing not to meet in-person due to safety concerns. Other therapists prefer to concentrate their expertise in scheduled sessions rather than the texting service. We highlight the communication channels that each therapist supports on their online profile and our staff will inform you of any limitations if you call to schedule.

Once on-boarded, you can schedule in-person sessions online through our client portal.

Apple Counseling offers six locations in the North Texas region (Carrollton, Dallas / Park Cities, Frisco, Oak Cliff, Plano, and Prosper). If you prefer to meet in-person, choose a therapist located in the office which you desire. We have implemented Covid protocols to ensure your safety.

As part of on-boarding, you indicate to staff that you prefer to meet using live video and they will schedule the appointment. At the time of your live video scheduled session, you sign into the client portal to enter the session.

These sessions use a HIPAA compliant video conferencing platform similar to Zoom, Skype, etc. which allows you and your therapist to see and talk with each other. The platform offers a virtual waiting room so that your therapist can ensure that only you can participate. All that you require is access to a computer, tablet or smart phone to utilize the platform. This enables you to meet in the location most convenient for you.

If you would like to meet using a different method supported by your therapist, just request that when scheduling your next appointment.

As part of on-boarding, you indicate to staff that you prefer to meet over the phone, provide your preferred phone number, and they will schedule the appointment. At the time of your session, your therapist will call you directly.

If you would like to meet using a different method supported by your therapist, just request that when scheduling your next appointment.

Apple Counseling’s text subscription service is an optional way to receive support in between therapy sessions. We offer two plans: 1) Seed Plan which offers up to ten texts per week with your therapist or 2) Core Plan which offers unlimited texts. The Seed Plan costs $20 per week billed monthly and the Core Plan costs $50 per week billed monthly. No contract is required, and you can cancel at any time. To sign up, just call us at (214) 618-8402 or notify your therapist. We will collect a credit card authorization and start you on the service.

Our text service utilizes a HIPAA compliant messaging system. You will receive a text invitation from your therapist with a link to a private chat room. Click on the link and a browser window will open where you and your therapist can exchange secure messages. Therapists can also provide therapeutic multimedia such as documents, images, and video. The text messages in the chat room have a 30-day life and are automatically deleted when they expire for security purposes.

No. However, we have relationships with many psychiatrists practicing in North Texas and will provide referrals appropriate to your need.

You can find licensed, associate, and student applications on our career page here: applecounseling.com/careers.