From the Mindful Wellness Center of Austin, this month's Get Involved spotlight nonprofit:
The Mindful Wellness Center of Austin (MWCA) has a mission to make wellness available to everyone and believes in empowerment through mindfulness. In support of this mission, the MWCA offers uniquely affordable sliding-scale individual and couples therapy for adults in the Austin area. Since January 1, 2020, MWCA therapists have provided a mindfulness-based and trauma-informed therapeutic approach in nearly 3,000 counseling appointments. The average payment is just $30 per session, which is a fraction of the typical cost of similar therapy elsewhere in Austin.
Currently, MWCA is entirely self-funded and operated by volunteers. The counselors are provisionally licensed or graduate-level student interns who are supervised by fully-licensed therapists. This model allows MWCA to provide services on a sliding scale to reach people without insurance or who are otherwise unable to afford therapy. By providing counselors with clinical trainings, education and practice in mindfulness-based and trauma-informed therapy, the Center also helps the next generation of mental health practitioners better serve the Austin area for decades.
How You Can Help
MWCA relies on volunteers and donations. The board of directors, administrative and technical roles, and other critical resources are entirely managed by passionate volunteers who believe in the mission. Currently MWCA is actively seeking more volunteers to help with grant writing, website administration, and to expand the capacity of the board. Reach out here if you’re interested in joining the team.
Donations are also a great way to support the MWCA and their clients. To date, MWCA keeps a dedicated scholarship fund for existing clients who experience a financial challenge (such as losing a job or incurring an unexpected large expense) that could otherwise necessitate pausing therapy sessions. Therapy can be most helpful when someone is experiencing stress and the scholarship fund helps continue counseling when it is needed most. With enough donations, the MWCA will develop additional resources, such as mindfulness courses and online materials to serve an even broader client base. To donate, go here.
More About the Mindful Wellness Center
The Mindful Wellness Center of Austin (MWCA) was formed by Cyndi Collen and Laura Benton in 2017. They first met in yoga class and realized they shared a background in the healing professions – Cyndi being a therapist and Laura a nurse – and an awe for the human brain and its’ innate capacity for building new neural pathways, especially when supported by mindfulness tools. Their original mission of empowerment through mindfulness was based on the foundational belief that all human beings deserve access to the kinds of tools and relationships required to support self-healing and that people should always be treated without judgment, labels, or stigma.
There is a huge gap in availability and affordability of this kind of treatment nationwide. Mindfulness-based therapy models are evidence-based and research has shown it is an effective and sustainable modality for reducing stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Most of us know someone who is struggling to make ends meet and it is easy to see the impact of the current mental health crisis on our community. Cyndi and Laura took action to meet that need and their passion continues to inspire and guide the Mindful Wellness Center’s mission and its goals to expand services and grow impact.
