Access pathway
Therapy Access
Psychotherapy works best when it starts early and continues long enough to matter. For many families, cost and availability cut it short before it begins.
The barriers
Families looking for therapy for a child or for themselves commonly run into the same obstacles: therapists who are not accepting new clients, practices that do not take their insurance, out-of-pocket fees that cannot be sustained week after week, and uncertainty about what kind of therapist or therapy is appropriate. When an evaluation has recommended treatment, the gap between the recommendation and the first appointment is where many families lose momentum.
How the Foundation helps
- Care navigation. Help understanding the options, such as what types of providers exist, what questions to ask, and how to find lower-cost care, and support connecting to a provider.
- Resource guides. Bilingual guides, distributed through partner schools and clinics, that list where to turn and how to ask for help.
- Caregiver workshops. Free sessions that help parents and caregivers support a child at home while treatment is being arranged and after it begins.
- Charitable support, as funding allows. Where funds are available, the Foundation works to reduce cost barriers to treatment for families who cannot otherwise afford it. This is limited, decided case by case, and never guaranteed.
Who provides therapy
Therapy is provided by licensed mental health professionals, including partner practices, not by the Foundation. Texas licenses for psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers can be verified through the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.
Other places to look
- FindTreatment.gov, a confidential national directory of mental health and substance use treatment providers.
- 2-1-1 Texas, for local health and human services, including low-cost mental health care.
- Your child's school counselor or pediatrician, who can often refer to local low-cost providers.
What the Foundation is, and is not. Carry Good Forward Foundation is a charitable foundation. It provides education, resources, and care navigation, and directs charitable funds toward access to care as funding allows. Clinical services such as psychological evaluations and psychotherapy are delivered by licensed providers, including partner practices, not by the Foundation itself. Assistance is never guaranteed and depends on available funding, partner capacity, and each family's situation.
How to inquire
Email howdy@carrygoodforward.com. It helps to include the general area where you live, whether the support is for a child or an adult, what kind of help you are looking for (an evaluation, therapy, or information), and whether cost is the main barrier. Please do not include detailed medical or personal records in a first email. See Get Help for what to expect.
Carry good forward with us.
Every gift, partnership, and hour of volunteer time helps close the distance between needing support and receiving it.