Healthy Strides Moving into 2022

Dan here. It’s almost 2019 already! What the heck happened??? Don’t worry, even though I am not a father I will be sure to drop a dad joke and tell you all tomorrow that I haven’t seen you since last year.

Ok now that the crickets are done chirping, let’s see what happened in 2018 and how it absolutely destroyed our goals. Then we will take a look into 2019 and tell you what to expect.

2018 in review

• Exploded our client list from 3 to 16. In January, Kim and I had a meeting to discuss client expansion. We had 3 clients going into 2018 and said by April we wanted 4 total. Slow growth we said. However, by mid April we didn’t have 3, we had 8. We had exploded and the names kept coming in which led to…
• Hired Laura Butts, LCSW as a second therapist. She has been an amazing addition
• Started and achieved Horses and Teens Together, our new group for teen girls
• Started taking AETNA and United insurance out of network and Bluer Choice PPO
• Announced telehealth, our HIPPA secured video session program
• Rescued Rosie the kitten
• Opened the second location of Healthy Strides in Forsyth for traditional therapy sessions
• Changed and expanded our hours. We are currently open Monday-Thursday 4-8pm Our new schedule in Forsyth will be announced soon

2019 expectations

With so much happening in 2018 let’s take a small sneak peek at 2019

• We expect Forsyth to be open by January 15
• Healthy Strides is hosting our first ever OK Corrall Series event! We are hosting the Green seminar. See information here [LINK]
• We will be starting a brand new, 4-week undergraduate internship opportunity for students interested in psychology, social work, or medicine as a career. More info to come
• Look out for a new set of outreach movements on the way!

We will have more to announce as plans solidify

We are so happy to usher in 2019! It’s going to be explosive!

Effective today, December 28, 2018, Healthy Strides now accepts United Healthcare and Optum OUT OF NETWORK. Please note we ARE NOT an in network provider, however, the deductibles are relatively similar and usually pretty painless.

This covers all of University of Illinois undergraduate and graduate students!

We welcome United and Optum with open arms!

Say what?!?!

That’s right!!

Kim and Dan have been keeping this (barely) a secret. As of today, a final approval has begun and Healthy Strides has a NEW LOCATION!

Starting in January we will have Healthy Strides – Argenta and Healthy Strides – Forsyth

Healthy Strides Argenta (9013 E. School Road, Argenta, IL) will continue to provide the unique equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning services. Look for next announcement on new and expanded hours for Argenta.

Healthy Strides Forsyth (332 Marion Ave, Suite 1, Forsyth, IL) will provide strictly office services for clients more inclined to non-barn services. Dan and Laura will offer traditional therapy services with the same great care and empathy.

We expect to begin accepting clients in mid January. We receive the keys in a week and will need to do a little work and move furniture. We will update you as we move along.

So please help welcome Healthy Strides to Forsyth!

That’s right! Our noting and payment software has finally added telehealth ability. This means Healthy Strides therapists will be able to provide therapy and counseling in a secure and online environment. If you know someone who would love services and need or prefer an online environment, they can email us at healthystrideseap@gmail.com or call at 217-383-0065 and checkout https://healthystrideseap.com/2018/08/08/telehealth-coming-soon-to-healthy-strides/

It’s been a while since we had news. Healthy Strides has exploded. We’ve already filled up Laura’s general schedule. We hoped for that scheduling boom to occur within 3-4 months of Laura starting. It happened in 3 weeks.

Now comes one of our biggest announcements to date. We do not have a solid date at this point, but some time in August or September, Healthy Strides will be offering an entirely new method of therapy services. Healthy Strides will begin to offer telehealth services using our HIPAA-compliant and secure software.

What does this mean?

This means we can offer traditional therapy services, Online, to the entire State of Illinois! Dan has done telehealth before and there are amazing benefits to this system. In most cases, clients CAN use medical insurance to pay for the sessions. We will be able to reach into communities who have poor or no access to services, or who would like to try standard office services outside of their city and county. These services are the exact same services you expect with standard office psychotherapy and counseling but online. The standard and professional guidance are the same.

Who is telehealth good for?

Lots of people!

You may be appropriate for Healthy Strides Telehealth if you…

• Live in a city or county with little or poor services
• Have specific anxiety about being in an office, face to face
• Have difficulty with driving or transport
• Have a difficult schedule that typically makes mental health appointments difficult
• and plenty of other reasons

We are not open as of this point. We will continue to update you as we know more.

What do you need to be a Healthy Strides Telehealth Client?

You MUST live in and have a permanent address inside the lines of the State of Illinois. Current standards for the American Counseling Association and the National Association of Social Workers dictates that our staff are only allowed to work with clients in the state we are located. At this time, our staff is located only in Illinois.

You are STRONGLY encouraged to be in a private location free from distraction and eavesdropping.

You will need a smartphone, tablet, or computer with the following;

1. External or integrated webcam
2. External or integrated microphone
3. Web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
4. An Internet connection – We recommend Wifi or Ethernet with a connection of at least 10MBps

Smartphones included are all Android and iOs platforms with a browser (Chrome or Safari)

And that’s it! Staff will take you through an intake and assessment and your psychotherapy or counseling begin.

We are extremely excited to be able to offer these services soon. Standby for more news!

Horses and Teens Together (HATT) is a 9 week program for young women (preteen and teen) that Healthy Strides is starting this summer on Fridays to: build character, discuss positive body image, learn to lay healthy boundaries, work on communication, and to provide a healthy, fun and empowering support system!

Our final session is for parents and guardians to join in on!

This program can be covered by insurance or a private pay rate will be determined so the girls that need help get it!

Contact us on Facebook or call us directly to inquire about space and sign up!

Please please share! Girls in our community need and deserve this program!

The team have a few announcements to make!

First, as of last week, Healthy Strides accepts Blue Choice Preferred insurance programs. This opens up a very small but very section of the population in Macon and surrounding counties.

Also, be on the lookout for a new group program run by Laura and Kim for teen girls! Much much more to come as we get closer.

Finally, in the next few days we will begin the process of getting Laura loaded into insurance panels. When that happens we will be opening a set of hours on Friday! More to come as well.

Have a great day!

Healthy Strides is very proud to welcome Laura Butts as our new psychotherapist! Laura is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois and has experience in trauma work. She is excited to expand into new ideas for Healthy Strides. Laura has expressed interest in expanding offerings for couples and family therapy. She has practice in community, hospital, and private settings and works with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Narrative, and Solution-Based approaches.

Laura has a passion for creative arts and enjoys photography and painting. She is prepared to bring a wealth of information to Healthy Strides.

So what does this mean to Healthy Strides? First, you have amazing option and expanded hours. Laura will begin to enter services slowly, largely on Friday. Over time as she gains a client base, she will have an increasing schedule available. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Laura will be able to bill Medicare, an insurance service previously unavailable to Healthy Strides. We will be updating you as Laura’s hours become available.

We welcome Laura and we are ever so pleased to have such a wonderful therapist on staff. She will bring empowerment and caring to the deserving members of Central Illinois.

Welcome Laura!

The news doesn’t want to stop! After some time we are preparing for a round of interviews with some terrific applicants!

Today I was notified that we are now accepting Blue Choice Preferred and all major AETNA plans!

Once again opening to new clients possibilities