Adolescent, Adult, and Couples Counseling

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About Us

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. We know that choosing the right therapist is an important decision. If you or someone you know is looking for some guidance dealing with life's challenges, we are here to help.

Karvinen Counseling Services is a safe, comfortable, and confidential place to get the help you need. Our group of licensed, qualified therapists provide assessment, counseling, and treatment based on each person's unique needs. While we can't change difficult situations of the past, we can work together to better understand and resolve current challenges. Together we can work on areas of concern that may be holding you back from experiencing a more fulfilling and meaningful life. If you're looking for extra support and guidance or you're just ready to move in a new direction in your life, we look forward to working with you to achieve your goals. You will get the quality of care, professionalism, and attention you deserve.

Our practice is in a convenient location, handicap accessible, off a major highway, and just 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis. We can provide services, depending on your preference, through online video, telephone or in person sessions. Please Contact Us if you are interested in services. We look forward to hearing from you.




About Us image

Our Services

Teen Counseling

Teen Counseling

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Adult Counseling

Adult Counseling

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Couples Counseling

Couples Counseling

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Psychosexual Evaluation

Psychosexual Evaluation

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Rates and Insurance

Insurance 

We are participating providers for the following health plans:  

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • HealthLink
  • United Behavioral Health 
  • United Health Care
  • Optum
  • UMR

For clients with other insurance plans, we usually are able to provide the documentation that your insurance company requires for reimbursement of out-of-network services. 

Services may be covered in full or in part by your health insurance or employee benefit plan. If trying to determine details of your insurance coverage, we suggest asking the following questions by calling the phone number on the back of your insurance card and ask the following questions:

  • Do I have mental/behavioral health insurance benefits?
  • Do I have a deductible, how much is it, and has it been met?
  • Do I have a copay or coinsurance for therapy sessions?
  • Do I need preauthorization to see an outpatient, office based counselor or therapist?
  • How many sessions per year does my health insurance cover?
  • Is approval required from my primary care physician?

Our staff would be happy to assist in gathering this information before you schedule an appointment if you would like.

Services not covered by insurance

If your employee benefit plan does not cover services or if you do not want to use your insurance, please text, call, or email our office to discuss fees for services.

Payment 

Payment may be made by cash, check, or credit card. Payment is expected at the time of your session.   

Cancellation Policy 

We understand that appointments need to be canceled and rescheduled from time to time. We ask that you kindly give us at least 24 hours in advance notice when canceling appointments so we can schedule others that need appointments. We charge a $40 fee for sessions not canceled within a 24 hour notice. 

Contact 

If you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please text, call, or email using the information on our Contact Us.  

  

 

Common Questions

A number of benefits are available from participating in therapy. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues, and creative blocks. Many people also find that counselors can be a tremendous asset to managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, marriage issues, and the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:

  • Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your goals, and values
  • Developing skills for improving your relationships
  • Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
  • Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
  • Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
  • Improving communications and listening skills
  • Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
  • Discovering new ways to solve problems in your family or marriage
  • Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence
Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you've faced, there's nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you're at in life and making a commitment to change the situation by seeking therapy. Therapy provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.
People have many different motivations for coming to psychotherapy. Some may be going through a major life transition (divorce, new job, children, death of a loved one or pet, etc.), or are not handling stressful circumstances well. Some people need assistance managing a range of other issues such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addictions, relationship problems, conflicts and creative blocks. Therapy can help provide some much needed support, encouragement and help with skills to get them through these periods. Others may be at a point where they are ready to learn more about themselves or want to be more effective with their goals in life. In short, people seeking psychotherapy are ready to meet the challenges in their lives and ready to make changes in their lives. 
Because each person has different issues and goals for therapy, therapy will be different depending on the individual. In general, you can expect to discuss the current events happening in your life, your personal history relevant to your issues, and report progress or any new insights gained from previous therapy sessions. Depending on your specific needs, therapy can be short-term, for a specific issue, or longer-term, to deal with more difficult patterns or your desire for more personal development. Either way, it is most common to schedule regular sessions with your therapist, usually weekly or every other week. Sessions are generally about 50 minutes.  

It is important to understand that you will get more results from therapy if you actively participate in the process. The ultimate purpose of therapy is to help you bring what you learn in session back into your life. Therefore, beyond the work you do in therapy sessions, your therapist may suggest some things you can do outside of therapy to support your process - such as reading a pertinent book, journaling on specific topics, noting particular behaviors or taking action on your goals.
It is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems and the pain they cause cannot be solved solely by medication. Instead of just treating the symptom, therapy addresses the cause of our distress and the behavior patterns that curb our progress. You can best achieve sustainable growth and a greater sense of well-being with an integrative approach to wellness. Working with your medical doctor you can determine what's best for you, and in some cases a combination of medication and therapy is the right course of action.
We are participating providers for the following health plans:  

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • HealthLink
  • United Behavioral Health 
  • United Health Care
  • Optum
  • UMR
For clients with other insurance plans, we usually are able to provide the documentation that your insurance company requires for reimbursement of out-of-network services.

Services may be covered in full or in part by your health insurance or employee benefit plan. If trying to determine details of your insurance coverage, we suggest asking the following questions by calling the phone number on the back of your insurance card and ask the following questions:

  • Do I have mental/behavioral health insurance benefits?
  • Do I have a deductible, how much is it, and has it been met?
  • Do I have a copay or coinsurance for therapy sessions?
  • Do I need preauthorization to see an outpatient, office based counselor or therapist?
  • How many sessions per year does my health insurance cover?
  • Is approval required from my primary care physician?
Our staff would be happy to assist in gathering this information before you schedule an appointment if you would like.

Services not covered by insurance

If your employee benefit plan does not cover services or if you do not want to use your insurance, please text, call, or email our office to discuss fees for services.

Payment 

Payment may be made by cash, check, or credit card. Payment is expected at the time of your session.

Cancellation Policy 

We understand that appointments need to be canceled and rescheduled from time to time. We ask that you kindly give us at least 24 hours in advance notice when canceling appointments so we can schedule others that need appointments. We charge a $40 fee for sessions not canceled within a 24 hour notice.

Contact 

If you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please text, call, or email using the information on our Contact Us page.  
Confidentiality is one of the most important components between a client and a therapist. Successful therapy requires a high degree of trust with highly sensitive subject matter that is usually not discussed anywhere but the therapist's office. Every therapist should provide a written copy of their confidential disclosure agreement, and you can expect that what you discuss in session will not be shared with anyone. This is called “Informed Consent”. Sometimes, however, you may want your therapist to share information or give an update to someone on your healthcare team (your Physician, Attorney, etc.), but by law your therapist cannot release this information without obtaining your written permission.

However, state law and professional ethics require therapists to maintain confidentiality except for the following situations:

* Suspected past or present abuse or neglect of children, adults, and elders to the authorities, including Child Protection and law enforcement, based on information provided by the client or collateral sources.

* If the therapist has reason to suspect the client is seriously in danger of harming him/herself or has threatened to harm another person.

Our Team

Hillary Timmerman

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Registered Art Therapist

Lisa Lawrence

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Heather Lipe

Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider and Evaluator

Amy Lowe

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Kelsey Stott

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Courtney Hupp

Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Trainer, and Consultant

Tracy Karvinen

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor

Contact Us

  • 2220 S. State Route 157, Suite 200 D Glen Carbon, IL, 62034

Online Resources

General Information:

  •  PsychCentral 

    Website: http://psychcentral.com/resources/ External link 

    Description: PsychCentral is an extensive annotated directory of mental health resources, including general information, as well as blogs, online communities, support groups, articles, quizzes and books.

  •  American Psychological Association

    Website: https://www.apa.org External link 

    Description: This is the official website of the American Psychological Association, the largest professional psychology association in the country. It’s made up of more than 130,000 clinicians, researchers, consultants, educators and students.

  •  American Psychiatric Association

    Website: http://www.psych.org/ External link 

    Description: This is the official website of the American Psychiatric Association, the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It’s made up of more than 35,000 member psychiatrists.

  •  About.com

    Website: http://mentalhealth.about.com/ External link 

    Description: About.com maintains a robust collection of articles about mental health topics.

  •  U.S. government

    Website: https://www.usa.gov/mental-health-substance-abuse External link 

    Description: This is the mental health page of the U.S. government’s web portal for federal resources and information.

  •  Psychology Today 

    Website: http://www.psychologytoday.com/magazine External link 

    Description: This is the website of Psychology Today magazine. The magazine covers a range of topics in psychology authored by experts in the field.

Organizations:

  •  National Association of Mental Illness

    Website: https://www.nami.org/ External link 

    Description: The National Association of Mental Illness is the largest nationwide mental health advocacy grassroots organization with hundreds of state organizations, affiliates and volunteers. It is a hub for support groups, free education, raising awareness and building community.

  •  Mental Health Resources, Inc.

    Website: http://www.mhresources.org/ External link 

    Description: This nonprofit provides community-based mental health services to adults, especially those suffering medical, social or substance-related comorbidities.

  •  American Psychiatry Association 

    Website: http://www.psychiatry.org/mental-health/ External link 

    Description: The American Psychiatry Association is the largest professional membership organization of psychiatrists in the world. The APA website hosts “Let’s Talk Facts” brochures on a range of illnesses, professional resources for psychiatrists, psychiatric residents and medical students. It publishes up-to-date news, research, government policies and developments in psychiatry.

  •  National Institutes of Health

    Website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html External link 

    Description: This is the National Institutes of Health’s collection of resources from the National Library of Medicine. It includes information about conditions, treatments, patients, families and friends, latest research, drugs and supplements, terminology and definitions, videos, illustrations and clinical trials.

  •  World Health Organization

    Website: http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas/en/ External link 

    Description: The World Health Organization’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse has a Project Atlas, which compiles resources and information about mental health and neurology policies, prevalence, statistics, medicines, professionals, information systems and publications. Topics covered include mental health in emergencies, maternal and child mental health, neurology and public health, disorders management and suicide prevention. Information can be searched by region, country or worldwide.

  •  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

    Website: http://www.mentalhealth.gov/ External link 

    Description: This website, run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides government information about mental health taken from the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Medline Plus, FindYouthInfo.gov and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The information is for the general public, health care providers, policymakers, schools and communities.

Diagnostic Information:

Military/Veterans:

  •  Veterans Affairs

    Website: http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/ External link 

    Description: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website hosts screening tools, a veterans crisis line and a guide to mental health conditions that often plague veterans.

  •  National Association on Mental Illness

    Website: https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Veterans-and-Active-Duty External link 

    Description: The National Association on Mental Illness has a Veterans & Military Resource Center, which is home to online discussion groups, information about veteran mental illnesses and treatments. It includes information about advocacy for active-duty members, returning veterans, veteran families, veterans in recovery, veterans looking for work, mental health providers, college faculty members and women veterans.

  •  Military Pathways

    Website: https://www.militarymentalhealth.org/ External link 

    Descriptions: Military Pathways is a site created by Screening for Mental Health and the Department of Defense that allows military members and their families to take free, anonymous mental health or alcohol self-assessments. Completion of the assessment directs users to referral information for Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs services.

Youth, Teens, School, and College Students

  •  Office of Adolescent Health

    Website: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/mental-health/ External link 

    Description: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health offers information about adolescent mental health across states, adolescent mental health disorders and access to care.

  •  The Jed Foundation

    Website: http://www.jedfoundation.org/ External link 

    Description: The Jed Foundation is an organization committed to the mental and emotional health of college students and preventing suicide among this population. The foundation runs several free online self-assessment and resource programs for students and campuses. It offers training tools for campus professionals to improve their mental health services for students.

  •  Youth.gov

    Website: http://findyouthinfo.gov/federal-resources/federal-links External link 

    Description: This is a hub of government information about youth mental health issues, including substance abuse, LGBT issues, bullying and homelessness.

  •  ULifeline

    Website: http://www.ulifeline.org/ External link 

    Description: A project of the Jed Foundation that provides a free, confidential online resource about emotional health to more than 1,500 colleges and universities.

  •  LawLifeline

    Website: http://www.lawlifeline.org/ External link 

    Description: LawLifeline is a combined project of the Jed Foundation and Dave Nee Foundation. It is a free, anonymous and confidential online resource for law school students to seek out information about depression, anxiety, suicide, stress and self-harm.

  •  School Mental Health Project

    Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/ External link 

    Description: The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools created the School Mental Health Project, an online collection of tools, research, publications and resources for school practitioners and professionals.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, +

Women:

Minority:

Seniors:

Getting Help:

Support:

  •  Mental Health America

    Website: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ External link 

    Description: Mental Health America is a community-based network with 240 nationwide affiliates that provide services such as counseling referrals, support and finding housing for the homeless.

  •  National Council for Behavioral Health

    Website: http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/ External link 

    Description: The National Council for Behavioral Health is a collective of more than 2,000 member mental health and substance abuse treatment organizations. The National Council is known for creating Mental Health First Aid, a public education initiative consisting of an eight-hour course that provides participants with a crash course in understanding mental illness risk factors, impacts and treatments. It is aimed at increasing early detection and intervention.

Blogs: 

Eating Disorders:

  •  National Eating Disorders Association

    Website: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org External link 

    Description: The National Eating Disorders Association is a nonprofit supporting people with eating disorders and their families. It provides an information and referral helpline, extensive information about eating disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, as well as handouts and toolkits for parents, coaches and educators, and forums for discussion and stories of recovery. The website is also available in Spanish.

  •  Proud2Bme

    Website: http://proud2bme.org/ External link 

    Description: An online community for teens that encourages healthy body image.

Substance Use:

  •  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    Website: http://www.samhsa.gov/ External link 

    Description: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency on behavioral health, runs several mental health campaigns and has information on health reform for providers, families and individuals. SAMHSA also has a helpful online behavioral treatment services locator.

Anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and Depression:

  •  Anxiety and Depression Association of America

    Website: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/ask-and-learn/resources External link 

    Description: The Anxiety and Depression Association of America raises public and professional awareness, promotes research advancement and provides referrals for children and adults with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorders and related disorders. The website provides information about these conditions, their treatment and resources for professionals.

  •  Anxiety Disorder Resource Center

    Website: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety External link 

    Description: The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s Anxiety Disorder Resource Center contains a glossary of symptoms and mental illnesses, a child and adolescent psychiatrist finder, facts and resources for families and youth suffering from anxiety and anxiety-related disorders.

  •  Depression Like Me

    Website: http://www.depressedlikeme.com/ External link 

    Description: The website Depression Like Me is home to a “depression library” of articles about types of depression, depression symptoms, causes, treatment, support groups and links to more resources.

  • Freedom from Fear 

    Website: http://www.freedomfromfear.org/
     External link     Description: This is the website of the nonprofit advocacy organization Freedom from Fear. It contains a wealth of research-based information and treatment referrals for anxiety and depression.

Bipolar:

  •  Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

    Website: http://www.dbsalliance.org/ External link 

    Description: The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance is a national peer-led organization run by individuals with depression and bipolar disorder. It provides support groups, peer specialist training, wellness tools, research, podcasts, brochures, publications and information for clinicians.

  •  The Balanced Mind

    Website: http://www.thebalancedmind.org/ External link 

    Description: The Balanced Mind, a parent network run by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, provides support and guidance to parents raising children with mood disorders.

Autism/Asperger's:

  •  Autism Speaks

    Website: http://www.autismspeaks.org/ External link 

    Description: Autism Speaks is a prominent autism research and advocacy organization. The website contains links to apps, tool kits and a resource guide for families and individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

  •  Autism NOW Center

    Website: http://autismnow.org/ External link 

    Description: The Autism NOW Center is a resource for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families. The Center’s resources include fact sheets, webinars, a newsletter and a call center. It focuses on the topics of early detection, intervention, education, transition, aging, community inclusion, long-term care and health care reform.

Schizophrenia:

  •  Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

    Website: http://bbrfoundation.org/ External link 

    Description: The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards grants to scientists conducting research on causes and treatments of mental disorders in children and adults. This includes schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, attention-deficit hyperactivity and autism.

Hotlines:

 

Note: Not responsible for the content, claims or representations of the listed sites.