Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Peyton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kelly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am one of 4 founding partners of West Houston Counseling Center. The four of us worked at another company in the energy corridor but lived in the Katy area and became tired of the commute. We are all moms and wanted to find the right balance of working, patient care, and family.
Through time, discussion, and planning we decided to make the move to Katy and set up our own practice.
We opened the doors of our practice four years ago and now have 10 therapists in addition to our amazing office administrator Sabrina. From the beginning, we knew we wanted to be a teaching facility that would bring in students working on their graduate program in counseling as well as licensed interns seeking a full license in counseling. Many of our current therapists started as students and are now fully licensed therapists.
We are committed to offering community outreach and ongoing training to the therapy community as a whole. I personally am the President of the Sam Houston Association of Play Therapy and work to offer training to play therapists in the area as well as informing the community with respect to the benefits of play therapy for young children.
As a company, we have hosted many training events for local therapists including a recent EMDR certification training for over 35 local therapists. We also provided a community outreach event to provide crisis counseling after Harvey devastated the Katy area. Our mission as a company is to provide ongoing training in-house and to the therapy community at large to better the counseling field as a whole.
Has it been a smooth road?
I think we have been really lucky as a new start-up company. When we moved to Katy we brought existing clients with us who were willing to make the drive into Katy to continue seeing our therapists. We all had strong network relationships with professionals in the area who were excited to send us referrals.
The biggest obstacle we had, in the beginning, was trying to handle the administrative tasks without a front office professional. It was a challenge to divide the work of insurance verification, billing, scheduling, and client needs. We were lucky to meet our amazing office administrator, Sabrina Yoder when we held our open house two months after opening. We would be lost without her! The second obstacle has been managing our growth and office space.
We currently have a small office with 10 therapists which means office sharing and a crowded schedule. We have had to turn away many talented therapists and interns due to lack of space and often have to refer clients out for the same reason. There is no lack of demand for counseling services and we foresee a need to expand our offices in the near future.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with West Houston Counseling Center – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
West Houston Counseling Center is a full-service counseling center providing mental health services for adults, children, adolescents, families, and couples. We are a teaching facility dedicated to improving the skills of new therapists interested in working in the private practice field of therapy.
We are known in the community most for our dedication to training in trauma therapy including EMDR, our work with children in play therapy, and services to individuals struggling with addiction. We pride ourselves on offering ongoing training to the therapy community with many partners sitting on the boards of professional organizations and hosting training opportunities for local therapists.
Our company is a tight-knit family. We work together to support each other and our clients. The closeness in our group is apparent to other therapists who regularly seek to join our company to be a part of our team. I am proud to say we have built something really special that transcends a business and feels more like family.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The West Houston area is a diverse community with a variety of culture, religion, and socioeconomic groups. We have a wide variety of resources and professionals to draw and learn from. Even more amazing is how tightly knit the community feels as recently demonstrated after Hurricane Harvey hit our area. The community is teaming with pride and love.
The primary difficulty with this area is the rapid growth and crowded streets. What used to take 10 minutes to drive to now takes close to 30 minutes regardless of the time of day. This makes things feel further away than it used to and rather than feeling as if you are in a sleep suburb, can feel like a downtown rush hour.
Pricing:
- $150 individual, couple, or family session with a fully licensed therapist
- $90 individual, couple or family session with an intern (provisionally licensed therapist)
- $30 individual, couple, or family session with a student (graduate level therapist)
Contact Info:
- Address: 707 S. Fry Rd. Ste. 465 Katy, TX 77450
- Website: www.westhoustoncounseling.com
- Phone: 281-940-8515
- Email: [email protected]
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
