Frequently Asked Questions

With so many different therapists, our hours are very flexible. Some of our therapists see clients on evenings and weekends. Others are available in the morning and afternoon. Please call our Access Center at 303-867-4600 or fill out this form to determine which therapists fit both your schedule and your needs. Access Center hours are: Monday – Thursday: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. If you do not reach a person immediately, please leave a message as the Access Center Counselors may be on the phone with someone else when you call.

We are located at 1355 S. Colorado Blvd. in the Empire Park complex approximately 1 mile north of I-25. Empire Park is on the Southwest corner of Colorado and Louisiana. Look for three tall white buildings. We are on the lobby level of the middle building. suite C-100.

There is virtually no difference in the services provided that are described as therapy or counseling. The words are often used interchangeably.

We do accept Medicaid, however, our Access Center will need to verify that we are credentialed to serve you. Please call our Access Center at 303-867-4600 so we can verify that for you.

Private Insurance: We have a limited number of providers who work with private insurers. Please call our Access Center at 303-867-4600 and we can provide you with up-to-date information about who may accept your insurance and have availability for new clients at this time.

If we are unable to match you with a provider who accepts your insurance, we would be happy to discuss a sliding scale option based on your income or refer you to other providers in the community who do accept your insurance.

If you are worried about a loved one and think they would benefit from counseling, please share Maria Droste Counseling Center’s contact information with them.

Unfortunately, the center can only intake adults for counseling services if they contact us directly. Still, it can help them to get support from a friend or family member who lets them know they aren’t alone and that they have options.

This post by Mental Health America offers information on how to getting counseling with a friend or family member. It also offers ways to encourage them to seek help.

If this is a crisis situation, please contact the Colorado Crisis Line at 1-844-493-TALK (8255) or call 911.

Yes and yes. We have free two-hour parking (more than enough time for a session) in the parking lot directly behind us. We are also 100 feet from a stop on the #40 bus route.

Depending on the time of year, we have between 30 and 55 therapists. This means that we are virtually always accepting new clients. Learn how to choose the right therapist for you or let our Access Center help by calling 303-867-4600 or by filling out this form.

We provide counseling services for:

• Children of all ages
• Adolescents
• Adults
• Couples
• Families
• Seniors

We provide counseling for individuals and families with many different mental health difficulties and needs. Please call our Access Center for more information or see our Counseling Services pages.

That is a very good question! There are mazes of acronyms and specialties, and it can be very hard to understand who might be the right fit for you and your needs. It can feel like a difficult task to choose the right therapist, especially when you are struggling. To ease this process for clients, we offer two ways of assisting you in finding a therapist:

• Contact our Access Center to talk to a professional who will find out about your needs and match you with a therapist that is the best fit.
• Take a look at the Meet Our Therapists page, which includes information about each therapist to help you determine who may be the best fit for your needs. There are also details about specialties, populations each therapist works with, and if they are accepting new clients. Click on these categories to see who meets your preferences. You are welcome to contact them directly or call the Access Center and indicate a preference for a specific therapist.

Maria Droste Counseling Center is committed to providing services, regardless of your ability to pay, meaning no one is ever turned away because of financial limitations. Though a full fee counseling session is around $125, most therapists offer sliding scale payments based on your income, as it is important to us to ensure that mental health care is accessible and affordable. Additionally, individual therapists work with a variety of different insurance providers. Our Access Center has information on those details for each therapist and can help you navigate your choices with session cost in mind.

Yes. We provide outpatient therapy for clients seeking support with drug or alcohol issues, as well as those impacted by other’s substance use. We have several skilled therapists who provide clients with a supportive and judgment-free space to explore their substance use, set goals for change, learn new skills, find support, and implement changes with their use.

Yes. We have several therapists who work primarily with LGBT individuals, couples, and families, as well as strong LGBTQ representation among our staff. We embrace and honor diversity in all its forms.

Several of our therapists do evaluations. They offer:

• Alcohol and Drug Evaluations
• Child Evaluations
• Mental Health Evaluations

We have therapists who specialize in working with the unique needs of children and adolescents. Let our Access Center know the details about your child and the issues involved and they will be able to evaluate your needs and find the best fit. We know how difficult it can be when your child is struggling, and we are committed to working with parents and families to provide the best possible care to children ages 3 and up.

The key is getting them to talk to us. We can provide information to you, but therapy is a process that needs participation from the client. When they call in, we will help them explore their options and get started. The best thing you can do for them is to give them our Access Center’s number and agree to call with them if they’d like. We aim to make seeking therapy as simple as possible to ensure everyone who needs support can access it.

No. Our clients come from all over Colorado, and our programs do not require you to be a Denver resident. We provide services in person or via telehealth.

Si, en el centro de Maria Droste, tenemos cuatro terapistas habla español. Por favor, marque 303-867-4600.

Maria Droste Counseling Center is the collaboration of a non-profit organization and a group of independent practitioners in The Therapist Group, both with a passion for serving the community. We provide access to mental health care for the underserved and are a training institute for psychotherapists. Our therapists are either interns, staff members, or Therapist Group members. We also have affiliate therapists who work with us and provide supervision to interns.

The therapists in The Therapist Group:

• Are a diverse group of highly trained and skilled individuals
• Provide a full range of mental health care for all types of clients in our community
• Accept private insurance, Medicare, full-fee, and sliding scale clients
• Serve both private clients and those who are referred through the non-profit agency

Maria Droste Counseling Center has been formed out of the understanding that people need access to counseling regardless of their ability to pay. We are committed to serving others with enthusiasm, empathy, and humility as we assist in creating a place of peace, love, and harmony within others, ourselves, and our community. We embrace and honor diversity in all its forms.

Yes! We have a competitive internship training program attracting students from six universities. Each year, Maria Droste Counseling Center trains 25 Master’s and Doctoral students who serve in our community programs. Our internship program has achieved an excellent reputation in the community. Learn more about interning with us. We also have a post-graduate fellowship to support clinicians who are working on their licensure. Learn more about fellowship opportunities.

Children often face unique challenges, particularly in difficult situations such as a divorce, death of a loved one, or from something as simple as a move. Without the benefit of context and perspective provided by experience, children can find these situations even more challenging than adults. This can lead to anxiety, depression, and disorders stemming from losing things they care about. Some children have also been powerless in the face of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, which itself creates extremely destructive patterns.

Maria Droste Counseling Center has many programs that can help children in our community. Several members of our practice, The Therapist Group, actively specialize in working with children and adolescents. Beyond capabilities at our center, we also provide counselors for elementary-aged children on-site at 21 local schools through our Children First Program. With an ongoing commitment to best practices in working with children and adolescents, Maria Droste has been able to make huge differences in the lives of young people who are struggling.

Therapy is a very personal experience, and there are dozens of techniques. Additionally, each of our therapists has their own unique style, and they look at you as an individual person, not something to which a formula must be applied. In short, your therapy may or may not be what you initially expect. Our therapists come from many different backgrounds, and they embrace dozens of different techniques developed over decades of psychological study. No matter which therapist you see or what kind of techniques they use, your therapy will be focused on you and your needs.

What you can expect from an initial session is to meet with one of our counselors and provide basic information about yourself and what has brought you into therapy. The therapist will work to understand your situation and provide tools to help you heal and improve your quality of life. Therapy is a collaborative process, and our therapists are interested in what methods of growth you find most helpful.

Our therapists have a wide range of techniques focused on helping children. They work closely with parents and employ techniques such as solution-focused therapy, behavior therapy, play therapy, and sand tray, as well as many others.

Many of our therapists utilize play therapy to connect with children, as play is understood as the language in which many children communicate their needs. Practitioners have found that play therapy provides a therapeutic experience that is fun, engaging, and transformative, and helps children to connect with their therapists in a way that feels safe to them. One of our greatest tools is the experience of our practitioners. Some members of The Therapist Group have decades of experience working with children and share that expertise with our  school-based Children First counselors through our supervision and clinical training programs.

It’s no secret that the adolescent years are inherently difficult for many of us. They frequently give rise to their own unique challenges that can differ from those affecting children. Excessive stress, anxiety, and depression are possible, but adolescents can also face drug and alcohol related problems, eating disorders, peer pressure, anger, and others. We have therapists who specialize in working with adolescents and teens and use a number of different approaches. We would be happy to discuss more specific types of therapy based on your teen’s difficulties and needs.

We have therapists who specialize in a variety of treatment approaches. They range from decades-old therapies to more contemporary approaches. It’s also important to know that every therapist has his or her own individual style and is not chained to any one technique. The interaction between client and therapist is just as important as any specific technique employed, as the goal of all therapies is to create a safe, non-judgmental space for healing. We would be happy to discuss more specific types of therapy based on the individual’s difficulties and needs.

Some of our therapists specialize in working with victims of trauma and abuse, including adults who have a past history of abuse in childhood. Unfortunately, childhood abuse is not uncommon, but there is hope. There are many techniques that can help adults who have suffered from abuse as a child, and we are here to help you in the healing process. Maria Droste also offers the Survivor’s Mental Health Program (SMHP), which provides grant funding for survivors of abuse to seek services at low/no cost to them.

The key to helping a loved one is getting the person to contact us directly. Our Access Center counselors are knowledgeable about the specializations of our different practitioners, and they know some of the important details, such as availability of those professionals. Please give us a call to learn more about our services and if you are eligible for our SMHP program.

Many couples simply want some impartial input on difficulties in their relationships. Others are struggling to communicate effectively. Outside factors such as financial stress can make problems more severe. Difficulties with intimacy, differences in parenting styles, and family issues are all common reasons for couples to seek counseling. Learn more about relationships and common reasons couples seek counseling.

Many families seek counseling when they are dealing with custody battles, divorce, death, addiction, illness, adoption, as well as many other life changes. Learn more about counseling for families and children.

Our therapists work with a large variety of concerns, including

• Emotional struggles such as anger, anxiety, and depression
• Grief and loss
• Substance use 
• Trauma
• Stress management and self esteem
• Life transitions and spiritual growth
• Career exploration

There are as many different reasons to seek counseling as there are people in the world. Each of our clients has their own unique goals and struggles. We provide support and guidance based on you and your needs.

Our work is powered by a community of people who believe in our mission. Get involved in one or more of the following ways:

• Sign up for our newsletter to keep informed of our latest developments
• Volunteer
• Donate to support our mission
• Participate in our events

Let us address your place of employment or organization. We work to raise awareness of mental health issues, and we are also part of Community Shares, a payroll donation program for Colorado’s non-profit organizations. If you are interested in having someone speak to a group, please contact Marsena (Mars) Holsopple at Marsena_Holsopple@MariaDroste.org or 303-867-4605.

Donations allow us to provide mental health services to low-income clients in the following programs:

• Children First Program: counseling services on-site in 21 Denver area schools. You can now buy a share of our Children First Program by donating $1 a day, or $30 a month.
• Options Program: full-range of counseling services for low income individuals and families.

Learn more about making a donation.

Maria Droste Counseling Center was named after a Sister of the Good Shepherd from the 1800s who believed that all people deserved to be treated with compassion and respect. Maria Droste died in 1899 at the age of 36 after dedicating her life to working with emotionally troubled women and children in Oporto, Portugal. Her example of compassion and action is the inspiration behind our mission.