Counseling for Iosco, Ogemaw, Alcona and Arenac counties

Drive times from the office

Winter changes those numbers, and everybody here already knows by how much. If weather is going to make an appointment impossible, call the office rather than driving it.

The three towns with their own page

• Tawas City and East Tawas, Iosco County
• West Branch, Ogemaw County
• Oscoda, Iosco County, on Lake Huron

The rest of the towns in the table are served from the same office by the same counselor. They do not have pages of their own because there is nothing different to say about them, and a page that exists only to repeat itself with a different place name in it is not information.

Why the distances matter here

Iosco, Ogemaw and Oscoda counties are federally designated a High Needs Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, HRSA designation 7261033101, and roughly 45,000 people here are counted as underserved. Alcona County, next door, is separately designated with zero counted provider capacity.

That is why a thirty minute drive is normal here and a forty minute one is not unusual. It is also why cancelling late matters more than it would somewhere with a dozen practices: an appointment given up at short notice in a shortage area often cannot be refilled.

Look the designation up at HRSA

Where we do not serve

Alpena, Bay City, Saginaw, Grayling and Houghton Lake are outside this practice's area. Alpena is roughly ninety minutes away, and an hour and a half each way is not a sustainable arrangement for weekly counseling. If you are in one of those places, you will be better served by somebody closer, and we would rather say so than take the appointment.

Who is served here

Children from age three, teenagers, adults and older adults, individually, as couples and as families, across eight areas of counseling. Most major insurance is accepted, the insurance page lists which plans and what to ask yours.