
Counseling
Outpatient therapy for mental illness, substance use, problem gambling, and other addictions
If you are in immediate crisis, please dial 2-1-1 for mobile crisis or 911 for your local first responders. Be sure to add the Crisis Text Line (741741) and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255) in your and your family members' phones. For immediate help in accessing detox, call CT's Substance Use Access Line: 800-563-4086.
Positive Directions is a leading non-profit behavioral health facility serving mid-Fairfield County. Our outpatient clinic is licensed by the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the CT Department of Children and Families for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Our outstanding reputation reflects nearly 50 years of experience in meeting the needs of the communities we serve.
We provide individual, couples and family counseling in person at our private and serene setting in downtown Westport, as well as online. Our clients benefit from an outstanding team of dedicated licensed clinicians who are empathetic, knowledgeable, and experienced in working with a variety of mental health, substance abuse, and problem gambling disorders. We also offer free recovery groups to our clients and their supporters, as well as short-term one-on-one peer support for youth and young adults.
Our licensed clinicians specialize in treating addiction, anxiety, conflict resolution, depression and other mood disorders, eating disorders, grief, personality issues, problem gambling, procrastination, social anxiety, stress management, work and career issues, worry.
Payment Options
We work hard to help people in need access behavioral healthcare
regardless of their ability to pay
Commercial Insurance
Positive Directions accepts most forms of commercial insurance, including:
Aetna
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Cigna
Golden Rule
Harvard Pilgrim
Oxford Health Plans
UMR
United Healthcare
If your insurance company isn't listed, we can help you determine whether your insurance plan offers out-of-network behavioral health benefits. Give us a call and we will help you determine your out-of-network eligibility.
Public Insurance
We proudly accept both:
HUSKY Health/Medicaid
Medicare
Other Options
We offer a sliding-fee scale for those in need.
We are grateful to our donors who have enabled us to create a Treatment Fund to support eligible clients. If you have the means to contribute to the Treatment Fund, please know that your donations are gratefully accepted and enable people to receive or continue treatment at a difficult time in their lives!
We accept private pay.
Counseling Settings
Individual Counseling
We provide individual counseling for adolescents and adults. In a one-on-one interaction with a counselor, you are helped to express feelings, examine thoughts and beliefs, reflect on patterns of behavior, and work toward making healthy changes in your life.
Couples Counseling
Couples may seek premarital, marital, divorce, or alternative life-style counseling. Couples may also utilize this service to improve their relationship or their communication with each other.
Family Counseling
The family is a social system with its own structure and communication patterns. Each family has a unique personality, which is a powerful influence on all of its members. As a result, all members are affected when one member has a problem. We work to help families support individuals within the unit, as well as the family as a whole.
Problem Gambling Treatment
Recreational gambling can develop into an abusive pattern of behavior and an addiction that can destroy the gambler and their family's well-being and financial security. We specialize in treatment planning that replaces the gambling with new skills and activities. Treatment can offer a path to change and a healthier lifestyle.
Employee Assistance Program
We contract with employers to provide confidential counseling services at no cost to the employee. EAP helps the employee cope with personal problems that affect job performance. Problems may include marital and family conflicts, anxiety, stress, depression, bereavement, problem gambling and substance abuse. Call 203.227.7644 for more information.
Telephone Advisory Service
Our free telephone advisory service is meant to allow you to inquire about mental health options and services in a discreet and confidential manner. For many of the hundreds of callers we respond to, it is their first step on the road to recovery.