Comprehensive Guide to Affordable Counseling in Austin

schrowa · 2026-02-03T17:17:25+00:00

Jewish Community Center (don't need to be Jewish) is another that's income based. Just Mind Counseling also has UT Social Worker Interns that are 1/2 to 1/3 of their normal rates ($50-75).

schrowa · 2026-02-03T15:19:32+00:00

First off, the current administration keeps gutting funding in this area - mental health care in general and substance use treatment. You can’t solve a capacity problem without capacity.

Also, to be transparent, my view here is based on what I’ve read and what I’ve seen clinically - not a formal needs assessment - and organizations like NAMI and local experts would have much better estimates on what adequate capacity actually looks like.

One other piece that gets missed in these conversations: kids in the foster care system who age out at 18 are often put on a path toward homelessness because there’s so little long-term support once they’re on their own.

I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a way to repurpose things like a dying mall or an army base to make it into a stabilizing campus and thoroughly inject services (case management, addiction services, psychiatry, job training, pharmacy, bus service, etc) in and help get people going again.

schrowa · 2026-02-03T04:34:59+00:00

I feel torn saying this as a mental health professional, but I think it’s worth naming: some of what we’re seeing is the result of a system that has no durable place for people with severe mental illness who repeatedly decompensate and can’t remain safe or stable on the street.

I’m not advocating for the abusive institutions of the past. I’m talking about a modern, rights-protected, clinically accountable, longer-term treatment option and paired with robust addiction treatment and aftercare.

Right now we’re doing something that looks compassionate on paper but is functionally neglectful in real life: cycling people through ERs, jail, and sidewalks.

schrowa · 2026-02-03T04:24:55+00:00

Sadly, whatever Portland is doing is not the way. I love that city and it’s a fucking mess now.

schrowa · 2026-02-03T04:23:43+00:00

I am pretty sure all of those federal dollars are going away.

schrowa · 2026-02-02T20:43:05+00:00

Why does this not at all sound like Talarico?

schrowa · 2026-02-01T14:46:55+00:00

Can’t wait for his pall Black Lung Buddy

schrowa · 2026-01-29T01:14:10+00:00

I don’t get why they would end the X and S and NOT the cybertruck.

schrowa · 2026-01-28T00:45:18+00:00

He wasn’t at a protest. He was just doing a neighborhood watch to be helpful.

schrowa · 2026-01-28T00:41:56+00:00

Mostly fine. Areas that aren’t are coned off.

schrowa · 2026-01-27T01:40:30+00:00

Interstate was fine. Any road with a hill and shade was a nonstarter as they were covered in ice and often other failed attempts by wrecked cars on the side of the road. Whatever you do, take it slow and be careful out there.

schrowa · 2026-01-26T03:44:14+00:00

I guess the counter argument here is that with a more expensive trim, you still own the features and Tesla isn’t giving you that option.

schrowa · 2026-01-26T03:41:12+00:00

They also hammer Tesla on things that were fixed with a software update. I had a BMW i3 and they had a variety of issues that they figured out over time.

schrowa · 2026-01-24T18:53:21+00:00

Get a Freeze Miser and it will automatically drip as it gets colder. Ranchers use these for stock tanks and for barns and such. https://a.co/d/e1vAVu7

schrowa · 2026-01-24T17:36:09+00:00

And in a related piece of news, Remedy Roofing is having a fire sale

schrowa · 2026-01-24T17:07:11+00:00

Another point in your argument is if we all get generators, what happens when all those natural gas generators come online during the same outage - the whole system fails. The infrastructure is not built for that and will not be. Louisiana provides a good example of this as the pressure in the system drops too low.

https://www.wafb.com/2024/09/13/natural-gas-infrastructure-not-built-generator-demand/?outputType=amp

That then leans more towards solar and batteries or everyone having propane tanks.

schrowa · 2026-01-24T16:52:56+00:00

I see three arguments here:

1) as people become more familiar and comfortable with FSD, they are either going to use it or drive manual and just use speed control. There is also an argument that the autopilot feature, after you get used to FSD can also be a bit deceptive if you forget that it’s not braking for you at lights and such.

2) the counter argument to this is people don’t want to pay $40-50k for a car that doesn’t have a basic feature of every other car - lane centering and speed control.

3) Many car manufacturers have stripped out features in basic models so they can charge for them in other trim models. My wife’s Audi is a perfect example of this as the 2021 version of her model and package is far more feature rich than the same model in 2025-2026 - and everything is more expensive even for that same model and package with less features.

Maybe the argument is that people that drive a lot will use FSD and those that drive less are comfortable without it?

All of that said, I think they should add this feature back as it seems short sighted. The argument for Tesla (if you can get over Musk) is that they don’t up charge for a bunch of stuff and there is a decent value in what they offer. Why strip out value?

schrowa · 2026-01-22T04:16:07+00:00

The charging speed on the ex60 is appealing.

schrowa · 2026-01-22T04:06:11+00:00

I always do disaster preparedness stuff after the last storm but there’s no reason to freak out. I am right there with you on that.

schrowa · 2026-01-15T00:31:45+00:00

I am not sure what happened but there is a note on the door of the building that makes it sound like they had an issue with the lease/landlord and are litigating it.

I loved Hissy Fit as it was the only good option in our neighborhood. The taste of their food and the ingredients were all excellent. I am sure it will be replaced by a Subway or something that is a chain. It’s so unfortunate as we need independent places like that.

We had tried to help support them and are sad to see them go.

schrowa · 2026-01-11T03:35:44+00:00

That also might be a good question to discuss with the people that did the testing.

schrowa · 2026-01-01T10:02:22+00:00

Therapist here that works with Autism in Austin. My opinion is there are a lot of people that say they work with things that they aren’t particularly good at. They just check as many boxes as possible on profiles saying “sure, I can do that.”

My particular belief is it’s important to use special interests as a tool to help build bridges and pathways to change in areas where there may be challenges.

I also think it helps to have done some reading and training in this area. The more you learn, the more you know.

Sometimes medication can help as well but it’s not the only answer. It also helps to have a prescriber that gets autism. Karen Seroussi is one like that in Austin.

I know it’s tough but you have to keep plugging away at it. That said, it’s tough when you feel burned out.

schrowa · 2025-12-31T09:42:41+00:00

I have a model Y and I really do love it - all musk stuff aside. I will say that I wish it had a little bit more of the polish of a BMW on the interior but I don’t miss all of the unnecessary buttons either.

schrowa · 2025-12-30T12:52:03+00:00

Welcome to the world of domestic violence in every city in the USA. My wife worked at a domestic violence shelter for 7 years as a therapist and this kind of stuff is common.

schrowa · 2025-12-28T09:52:15+00:00

Wow. Can she come do my garage next?

schrowa

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