Cherie Shulter is trained as a mental health professional/facilitator to provide services in Collaborative Law matters, including Collaborative Divorce. Collaborative Law is a non-adversarial legal process that takes place outside the court system. Both parties are represented by attorneys, but the parties and attorneys have signed a collaborative agreement which requires, in part, that if they decide to change to the adversarial process and take the matter to court that both attorneys are relieved of their representation and the parties will find new attorneys and start the process again.

When parties commit to the collaborative process, they emphasize that the two of them know what is best for them (and for their children if children are a part of their family). By committing to the collaborative process, the parties remove the “wild card” aspects of going to court such as to which judge will they be assigned, how much testimony the judge will be willing to hear, and whether the judge will order outside professionals such as a visitation observer, a parenting facilitators, and custody evaluator.

By engaging in the collaborative process, parties ensure that the decision-makers for their case will be themselves. In addition to the parties and their attorneys, most collaborative law cases also include a financial professional and a mental health professional. Financial professionals help the parties to explore how divorce will affect wealth preservation and how division of assets may affect

The word counseling means several different things. In a mental health context, it refers to a service that can also be referred to as therapy or psychotherapy. While some make a distinction between counseling and therapy, for purposes of providing information to assist a prospective client decide to pursue counseling at Alamo Heights Counseling, the terms may be used interchangeably.

Generally, counseling doesn’t involve advice-giving; instead, counselors are trained in a variety of skills that allow them to help an individual reach their own unique answers to questions and solutions to situations that may be perceived as problems. Instead of telling you what to do, a counselor helps a person explore options and find the one that is best for that person.

Types of Counseling/Therapy:

• Rogerian/Person-Centered
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Cognitive Processing Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Solution Focused (Brief) Therapy
• Play Therapy
• Sand Tray Therapy, Sandplay therapy

At Alamo Heights Counseling, we choose to join all health insurance companies plans and to credential all our providers to be “in network” in all plans that we are eligible to join.

Our hourly rate is $175.00 per hour for LPCs, LMFTs, and LCSWs, but your health insurance or EAP may have negotiate a lower rate, so if you are an insurance client, please call us to find out what your cost will be.

Our hourly rate for LPC Associates and LMFT Associates is a sliding scale from $50.00 to $100. Unfortunately, Associate counselors and therapists are unable to accept health insurance in Texas, with the exception of Cigna/Evernorth when the Associate’s clinical Supervisor is in the Cigna/Evernorth network.

Our hourly rate for Interns and Practicum Students is a sliding scale from $ 0.00 to $50.00 and is subject to availability. Please call to find out if you qualify for no-cost services.

What are Court Related Services?
Court-related services is a blanket term that refers to a number of services provided by mental health professionals for purposes of supporting individuals involved in legal matters. As they cover a wide range of types of services, each service will be described thoroughly here.

 If you already have been to court and the judge ordered a specific service, that it is a court-related service. If you have an attorney working for you and the attorney recommended that you seek a service, it’s very likely that service is a court-related service.

Generally speaking, Court Related Services are not covered by health insurance as they are usually not health care. Services such as custody evaluations, supervised visitation, mediation, and parent facilitation are not medically necessary, do not require a diagnosis to be performed, and they do not even have an ICD 10 code assigned to the service to bill the insurance company.

We strongly recommend that instead of ordering the counseling be paid with insurance, they instead order that individuals come to counseling for an assessment to determine whether a condition exists, or to order counseling to be billed as private pay or through insurance, as determined by medical necessity.

Custody evaluation is defined by the Texas Family Code as “an evaluative process in a contested case through which information, opinions, recommendations, and answers to specific questions asked by the court made by made regarding conservatorship of a child, including the terms and conditions of conservatorship, possession of or access to the child, including the terms and conditions of possession or access or any other issue affecting the best interest of a child and made to the court, the parties to the suit, the parties attorneys, and any other person appointed under this chapter by the court in the suit. [Texas Family Code Section 107.101(1)].

Custody evaluations are ordered by the Court in connection with a divorce, request to change conservatorship, or other suit affecting a parent-child relationship. A custody evaluation involves home visits, interviews of parents, interviews of children (both the subjects of the suit and other children living in the home) observation of parents and children interacting with one another, background checks, and many other elements that are defined by law.  Custody evaluations can be requested a party but can also be ordered by a judge without a request from either party. If you have questions about the legal issues involved, consult an attorney who practices family law.

While the Texas Family Code outlines the requirements for an evaluation and the qualifications of an evaluator, In Bexar County, the Domestic Relations Office, located on the third floor of the Bexar County Courthouse, maintains a list of custody evaluators who have already been determined to have met the qualifications and are therefore approved to provide services in the Bexar County Courts. The surrounding counties may or may not maintain a specific list, but those who are listed on the Bexar County Evaluators List meet (or exceed) the criteria outlined in the Texas Family Code and are qualified to provide custody evaluations in any county in Texas. Cherie Shulter provides custody evaluations in Bexar and surrounding counties on a limited basis. She also provides oversight for the following providers who are also on the Bexar County Evaluators List: Corrina Espinosa Herrera, LPC-S, Bexar County Evaluator Number 1134; Lillian Little, LMSW Bexar County Evaluator Number 1634; and Elvira Marquez, LPC Bexar County Evaluator Number 1419. 

Click here for a copy of the Bexar County Domestic Relations Office’s list of custody evaluators can be accessed

Those interested in having Cherie, Corrina, Lillian, or Elvira ordered to provide a custody evaluation may contact our office directly at 210-822-2600 or may contact the Bexar County Domestic Relations office at 210-335-1242 or visit their website at: https://www.bexar.org/3186/Domestic-Relations-Office

Click here for evaluators and fee listing

The term “DFPS Services” refers to services performed under a contract between Alamo Heights Counseling, Inc and the State of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. A service is not necessarily a DFPS service just because the service is recommended by an employee of DFPS. Only when they services are required by DFPS to complete a Family Plan of Service or when the services are being paid for by DFPS is the service truly considered to be a “DFPS Service.”

These services may have additional requirements beyond HIPAA, informed consent, or insurance guidelines. DFPS Services may have additional requirements in terms of required paperwork, releases of information.

DFPS Services that Alamo Heights Counseling offers:

• Evaluation and Treatment Services
• Supervised Visitation
• Supplemental Caregiver Services for Children Without Placement
• Substance Abuse Services (groups and individual)
• Hospital Sitting Services

CPS caseworkers can refer families to Alamo Heights Counseling for Evaluation and Treatment Services by creating a 2036 referral form and a 2054 authorization providing 4 units of 86U and a minimum of 16 units of 86C to get started. Other units, such as 86F may also be used if needed. Caseworkers with questions may contact our offices by calling 210-822-2600.

What is EMDR?
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that was developed in the early 1980s by Francine Shapiro. The acronym stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The reference to ‘eye movements’ refers to the moving of the eyes back and forth (left and right) during the processing of a traumatic memory. While eye movements were the first form of bilateral stimulation to be studied, there are other forms that may be as effective, or more effective with some individuals.

Although relatively new (when compared with psychoanalysis for example) EMDR is well-researched, efficacious, and is considered by most health insurance companies to be a “best practice” for the treatment of trauma, including those associated with a diagnosis of PTSD

What does it cost? Can I use my health insurance?
Although the ideal EMDR session lasts 90 minutes, it is possible for a therapist trained in EMDR to utilize this effective approach in session lengths that meet the requirements of most health insurance plans. Generally speaking, health insurance permits sessions that are 45 minutes in length or 53-60 minutes in length. If your therapist determines that you are capable of processing traumatic material and then returning to a calm and safe state within the 53-60 minute time frame, it will be possible to use health insurance for EMDR sessions.

 When health insurance is used, the health insurance company sets the rate for the session as well as the client’s portion of that payment, in the form of a copayment, coinsurance payment, or payment toward deductible. While a single traumatic event may be processed in just a few sessions, clients who experienced prolonged trauma or repeated trauma may require much longer treatment. Clients should expect a minimum of eight sessions, but many clients continue treatment for a year or more.

At Alamo Heights Counseling, we’ve made it our practice to join all major health insurance networks as participating providers.

Our hourly rate is $175.00 per hour for LPCs, LMFTs, and LCSWs, but your health insurance or EAP may have negotiate a lower rate, so if you are an insurance client, please call us to find out what your cost will be.

Our hourly rate for LPC Associates and LMFT Associates is a sliding scale from $50.00 to $100. Unfortunately, Associate counselors and therapists are unable to accept health insurance in Texas, with the exception of Cigna/Evernorth when the Associate’s clinical Supervisor is in the Cigna/Evernorth network.

Our hourly rate for Interns and Practicum Students is a sliding scale from $ 0.00 to $50.00 and is subject to availability. Please call to find out if you qualify for no-cost services.

What is Hypnoanalysis?
Hypnoanalysis involves a thorough examination of a person’s unconscious thought processes, needs, and desires, which are influenced by their history, including childhood memories, and oftentimes childhood events that occurred when they were so young that they don’t even realize that they can remember it.

Like conscious forms of psychotherapy, hypnoanalysis addresses early trauma, unresolved loss, attachment and abandonment, hopes, dreams, and fears. Unlike conscious forms of psychotherapy, however, it can also address parts of the personality that the conscious mind desires to avoid or reject. Hypnoanalysis is also effective the examining the symbolic content of dreams and working with spirit/angel guides that are part of a person’s belief system.

Please note that due to the nature of hypnoanalysis and the scheduling needed for an effective analysis session, Cherie is not accepting health insurance for new hypnoanalysis clients

Hypnoanalysis sessions are $225 for a 1.5 hour session and may be discounted to $200 for clients paying with cash. Clients should anticipate a minimum of 8-10 sessions of the structured protocol before reevaluating the need for continued hypnoanalysis.

An Adoption Evaluation, sometimes informally called a “social study” is defined by the Texas Family Code as “a pre-placement or post-placement evaluative process through which information and recommendations regarding adoption of a child may be made to the court, the parties, and the parties’ attorneys” [Texas Family Code, Subchapter E, Section 107.151(1)].

Adoption evaluations are ordered by the Court in connection with adoptions, including private adoptions and step-parent adoptions. An adoption evaluation involves home visits, interviews of parents and children (both those to be adopted and any others living in the home) observation of the prospective adoptive parent and the child interacting with one another, background checks, and other elements that are defined by law. Adoption evaluations when the Department of Family and Protective Services are different than the evaluations performed for private adoption and are not a service we provide at this time. If you have questions about what type of adoption evaluation applies in your situation, you may need to consult an attorney who practices family law.

All Evaluators on the Bexar County Domestic Relations Office Evaluators List who are able to provide Custody Evaluations as described above also meet the qualifications outlined in the Texas Family Code for providing Adoption Evaluations. Cherie Shulter provides adoption studies in Bexar and surrounding counties on a limited basis. She also provides oversight for the following providers who are also on the Bexar County Evaluators List: Corrina Espinosa Herrera, LPC-S; Lillian Little, LMSW; and Elvira Marquez, LPC.

Those interested in having Cherie, Corrina, Lillian, or Elvira ordered to provide an adoption study may contact our office directly at 210-822-2600 or may contact the Bexar County Domestic Relations office at 210-335-1242 or visit their website at: https://www.bexar.org/3186/Domestic-Relations-Office

Evaluators listed on the Bexar County Domestic Relations Office’s list of evaluators have already been determined to meet the qualifications required by law. Those that provide adoption evaluations have indicated so and may have provided a starting estimate of costs: https://www.bexar.org/DocumentCenter/View/23558/Child-Custody-Evaluators-List-PDF?bidld=

Supervised Visitation refers to any visit between a child and an adult or adults in that child’s life that is supervised for whatever reason (such as to ensure the safety of the child, to document behaviors of the child and parent such as in a reunification situation, or to protect the parent from being falsely accused of hurting the child when there have been false allegations by another adult in the past).

Alamo Heights Counseling has a contract with the Department of Family and Protective Services to provide independent objective observers to observe interactions between children in DFPS legal cases and can, when sufficient staff are available, provide observers for visits that are ordered by judges outside children’s court as well (such as when ordered by a District Court judge in a family law matter).

Parties or their attorneys may contact our office for additional information, or may contact the Bexar County Domestic Relations Office for a reference

Alamo Heights Counseling provides supervised visitation on a limited basis when other resources in Bexar County are inaccessible or have been deemed not to be a good fit. While we are generally able to provide services on relatively short notice, it is imperative that we have a copy of the Court Order and that both parties sign our contract and pay all fees in full before visitation can begin.

 In rare instances when there is no court order but parties agree that one party’s time with the children will be supervised, we may be able to provide an independent observer, but will need documentation of the agreement between the parties.