All About New Leaf Counseling in Madison, Alabama

Family, Resources

June 1, 2021

Great news! Not only does New Leaf Counseling Services of the TN Valley have a brand new location right in Madison, but they’ve also expanded their team of licensed practitioners, allowing their practice to see more patients than ever before right here in our community.

Owner and professional therapist Alicia Schuster-Couch says that she is thrilled to have finally expanded her practice and that she feels “so lucky to have found this profession”.

All About New Leaf Counseling in Madison, Alabama

New Leaf first opened in 2017 and is a private practice that offers talk therapy. Schuster-Couch explains that a typical session lasts 40-45 minutes and can be scheduled for weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.

“We’ll meet as often as the client needs,” says Schuster-Couch, who explains that she and her team see adolescents all the way through adults.

All Things Madison | All About New Leaf Counseling in Madison, Alabama — Associate Licensed Counselor Laura Booth

She continued to share that they see clients that are struggling with depression, anxiety, life transitions, and much more. They offer their services to both genders as well as offer couples counseling.

Schuster-Couch says that getting set up at New Leaf is as simple as making a phone call.

“Clients usually call with a presenting problem, and then we’ll schedule that first session to discuss symptoms, life history, current things going on, and more. Based on that in-take session, we’ll create a treatment plan and move forward with talk therapy.”

Schuster-Couch says that she is very skills-focused and loves it when her clients are able to process out loud and build some skills.

“The two biggest skills we work on are how to communicate and how to cope,” she shares.

New Leaf is a private practice, which means that they accept private insurance as well as self-pay options.

When asked what reasons Schuster-Couch hears for why others are reluctant to seek out private therapy, she shared that often it’s linked to a lack of energy and/or motivation.

“Often their symptoms are the obstacles themselves. Just making the effort to call is sometimes too much. Someone with maxed out anxiety may simply just feel too overwhelmed to start the process,” she says. “People will often wait so long to get into therapy that by the time I see them, they’ll say that a certain problem has been going on for years and years.”

For Schuster-Couch, she says that it breaks her heart to hear from others that have been struggling with various issues for so long without therapy.

“People often feel like they have to wait until an issue gets really bad before they’re justified in seeking services, but if people felt more comfortable with therapy earlier, we can treat them earlier.”

When asked what Schuster-Couch loves the most about her job, she pauses and breaks out in a huge smile.

“I feel so lucky to have found this job because I genuinely love what I do. Just sitting in a room and holding space for someone who is sharing things with you and trusting you is amazing. I always want to be that person who is supportive and encouraging to my clients while they sort through their issues.”

Schuster-Couch invites those who are hesitant about going the therapy route is give it a try because “there is always hope. I think humans in general are more resilient than they give themselves credit for. We all have our own struggles, so there is no point in comparing struggles. Whatever that person is experiencing is validated and challenging, but challenging doesn’t mean impossible. Challenging means doable.”