Counseling and Therapy

At UnityPoint Health, we know that true wellness is much more than physical well-being. We're committed to providing solutions that address all areas of health, including mental health, helping you work through issues you are facing and providing tools to help you make lasting changes in your life. Learn about the common types of counseling and reasons to seek out counseling below, or find a location near you to see what programs are offered in your area. 

Common Types of Counseling

Individual Counseling

Individual counseling gives affirming and supportive one-on-one counseling for adults, adolescents or children to resolve depression, anxiety or other trauma related symptoms. Individual counseling can help reduce stress and help you find healthy ways to keep stress at a minimum. It can help with anger management and be a helpful source during those times of personal adjustment to foreseen and unforeseen life issues and transitions. Counseling can be an opportunity to change non-helpful patterns and enhance personal development.

Couple and Marital Counseling

When you find that you continue to have the same arguments over again without resolution and you may be feeling increasingly distant from your partner, our experts can help with couple or marital counseling. You will have the opportunity to resolve old issues and change coping patterns that may no longer serve your relationship goals. You will be able to learn new skills that can serve to enhance every dimension of your relationship. Thinking about getting married? Premarital counseling is offered to enhance and support your new life together. If, on the other hand, you have decided to divorce or separate, couple or marital counseling can help to negotiate some of the common issues associated with those decisions.

Mediation & Children in the Middle Divorce Class - Learn more about class options available through local resources such as the Iowa Judicial Branch or Mediation Services of Eastern Iowa. 

Family Counseling

We want your family to have the skills and knowledge to be able to create a respectful, supportive environment where each member can grow and mature into not only responsible family members, but community members as well. Family counseling is offered to support parents in their parenting rolls to create supportive and low stress environments. It also functions as a means to help the whole family overcome the obstacles to communication and conflict resolution.

Children and Adolescent Services

Depending on your location of care, programs and services may include: 

• Play and Expressive Art Therapy - Young children express their feelings naturally through play. Children learn appropriate and healthy ways of expression, coping, and wellness strategies.
• Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) - A type of therapy specifically to help teach coping strategies and aide in the healing process after exposure to trauma.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - A therapy treatment designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories.
• Family Therapy - Helps heal family relationships, improve communication, and resolve conflicts.
• Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) - An intensive 14-16 week program that decreases child behavior problems and promotes a positive relationship between parents and children.
• Cool Kids – Group therapy to help children ages 5-12 with effective strategies to reduce anxiety.
• Chilled Out – Group therapy to help youth ages 13-17 with effective strategies to reduce anxiety.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) - Group therapy to help youth ages 13-17 with mood regulation, communication and interpersonal relationship skills.
• School-Based Services - Provided to students in designated schools. Staff works with children and families to identify areas of need and help them access appropriate services.

Senior Outreach Counseling

We recognize that some individuals may find it difficult to attend office appointments due to age or disability. The Senior Outreach Counseling program helps adults 60 years or older maintain both their independence and a higher quality of life by visiting them in their homes and providing mental health services. In addition to individualized, in-home treatment, SOC also provides consultation and education at senior centers and meal sites.

Additional Types of Counseling and Therapy

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - A therapy treatment designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories.
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - Explores the relationships between behavior, thoughts and feelings.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – Encourages opening up unpleasant feelings, learning not to overreact to them, and learning effective ways to work through them.
• Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) – Group therapy to help with mood regulation and interpersonal relationship skills.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) – Group therapy to help with emotional regulation, communication and interpersonal relationship skills.

Common Reasons to Seek Counseling

UnityPoint Health is dedicated to providing a warm and comforting atmosphere to help you and your family heal. Some common reasons to seek counseling at one of our locations may include: 

• Coping strategies to manage depression, anxiety/stress, anger, childhood behavioral issues or other issues.
• Difficult life transitions such as divorce, remarriage/stepfamilies, parenthood, adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, aging, death/loss of a loved one, employment problems/job loss or other life changes.
• Help for relationships such as marital problems, parent-child problems, interpersonal conflicts, addictions (family aspect of recovery) or other relationship issues. 
• Managing the emotional aspects of disease and disability such as physical illness, physical injury/loss of abilities, chronic pain or other scenarios. 
• Healing from trauma such as a disaster/accident, abuse (physical, sexual or emotional), domestic violence, identity/self-esteem issues or other traumatic events.

Insurance Coverage

In an effort to facilitate an overall positive experience for you at any UnityPoint Health location, we suggest you contact your insurance company and ask about your mental health benefits. Let your insurance company know where you'd like to receive care. Financial assistance may be available for those who qualify.