Here’s what showing up actually looks like.
When Claire first started therapy, she was guarded.
She was 11 years old. In the classroom, she had difficulty focusing, staying engaged, expressing herself. Conversations about her past were met with silence. Beneath these challenges was a girl still learning that it was safe to be seen, heard, and understood.
Without accessible care, that process might have stalled entirely. The barriers are real: cost, transportation, limited availability of trauma-informed services. Without consistent support, struggles deepen – and children like Claire can be left without the help they need.
Through school-based services provided by The Center, Claire received weekly therapy in a space she already knew – at a pace she could set. Her therapist met her where she was. Honored her story.
A meaningful turning point came when she started opening about her past with less fear. Her voice grew stronger. She became more expressive with her emotions, more confident in her ability to cope.
Today Claire is more present in the classroom, better able to focus, and no longer carrying her experiences in silence. She’s eleven years old.
The Challenge We’re Addressing
Across North Texas, neighbors like Claire face an impossible gap: the mental health care they need exists, but cost, distance, stigma, and availability put it out of reach. Without access, struggles deepen. Without consistent care, progress stalls. And without someone who keeps showing up – the door never opens.
The Center for Integrative Counseling and Psychology is a nonprofit working to change that. Fees and insurance help sustain our care. But philanthropy is what extends access into the communities that would otherwise be left out.
How Care Actually Happens
Through our PACT program – Partnerships for Accessible Counseling and Training – licensed counselors are embedded in nonprofit partner organizations across North Texas. Not drop-in service. Long-term presence. Care that adapts to the rhythms and needs of each community.
A therapy day in a PACT setting isn’t just clinical hours. It’s the group session where middle schoolers talk about grief for the first time. The moment a counselor stays after the session ends because a student needs one more minute. The morning a child runs up and asks: “Are we meeting today?”
These are the relationship-building moments that open doors to healing. Your gift makes them possible.
What Your Gift Does
| $50 | Extends access to a neighbor who might not otherwise have it. |
| $100 | Supports one hour of counseling and the relationship-building moments that open doors to healing. |
| $250 | Launches a journey of care – helping a counselor be present, build trust, and provide flexible support. |
| $500 | Helps a counselor show up in a community where care wouldn’t otherwise reach. |
| $1,000 | Supports the kind of flexible care that meets people where they are – sometimes in a counseling room, sometimes just being present when it matters. |
| $2,500 | Keeps a counselor consistently present in a partner community – building trust over time so that when someone is ready to talk, they have someone to talk to. |
Why This Month Matters
May is when the broader culture finally starts asking the questions The Center has been answering for more than 55 years. Awareness matters – but awareness alone doesn’t keep a counselor in the room. That’s what your gift does.
Claire’s story isn’t unique. Across Dallas and North Texas, there are children carrying weight they shouldn’t have to carry alone. Your gift helps make sure the care they need is there – consistent, accessible, and close enough to reach.