Hope and Meaning Counseling

03/03/2025

Saturday February 22, 2025 HMC staff and interns had our annual winter gathering, and we celebrated all the accomplishments from 2024. We recognized our 2024 Highest Earner, Carolyn Pinto LAPC and our 2024 Significant Contributor, Chantelle Skavery LPC. This was the first year we had a “yearbook”, and it was amazing to see how many people got licenses, passed tests, and earned certifications. There was something good to say about absolutely everyone! 2025 is starting off on a good note with one staff member getting a second license, two people having started employment so far this year, and two more people waiting on exam results right now.

12/09/2024

Another high-quality print job from The UPS Store 3797 located in Doylestown PA - 1000 flyers advertising a new service our interns are offering:

⭐️ FREE therapy services for Medicaid recipients, no strings attached ⭐️

While we remain in network with commercial insurance and EAP plans only, we do not want to limit therapy to only those clients who have commercial plans. Our graduate student interns are supervised by our licensed counselors as well as by their graduate programs, and they are happy to provide therapy services free of charge to our community members who may have a hard time finding a therapist in network with Medicaid. We know it can be hard to find counselors who accept Medicaid, and we want to be a good option for anyone in need.

Call (267) 528-9037 or email appointments@hopeandmeaning.com for more information.

10/10/2024

The past week has been a big one for our staff! Three of our very deserving therapists have some new credentials:

⭐️ Licensed Associate Professional Counselor (LAPC)
Carolyn Pinto, LAPC
Karlie Zabin, LAPC

Karlie also has an LPC-A in Connecticut and she is currently training in EMDR. Meanwhile Carolyn has been running our DBT groups and is training in DBT education herself. We’re excited to support both Carolyn and Karlie as they pursue education and certification in these modalities!

⭐️ Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Chantelle Skavery, LPC, CRC

Chantelle was already an outstanding Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and now she gets to add an independent clinical license as an LPC! She has helped so many clients with disability care management over the past two years and is the best resource for vocational and rehabilitative counseling out there.

09/17/2024

Bruna Herard, LCSW is now a Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CAADC)! She has several years of working in outpatient drug and alcohol counseling for both individuals and small group, and we are very happy to see her experience recognized by Pennsylvania with this certification.

Bruna would be a fantastic choice for couples and families who are trying to strengthen their relationships as they manage the challenges substance abuse rehabilitation and recovery can present.

Bruna is also licensed in both Kentucky and Pennsylvania as an LCSW, and she can support clients in both states using most major insurances.

To set up an appointment with Bruna or any other of our counselors, please call (267) 528-9037 or reach out through email at appointments@hopeandmeaning.com

08/29/2024

Before you criticize someone, especially someone you don’t know, ask yourself - does this person actually need to hear my criticism? Why do I want to say something critical in the first place, what need of my own am I trying to meet by saying something critical?

If you don’t like the answers to those questions, it’s probably best to keep your criticism to yourself. You truly don’t know how much harm your criticism can do to another human being who may just be trying to do the best they can.

08/23/2024

We are often asked to help our clients determine appropriate accommodations to ask for when they are returning to work after a period of short-term disability. The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) has a wide variety of accommodations ideas that are relevant to specific diagnoses, and these are all in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Department of Labor requirements. We are happy to help our clients determine what accommodations are best suited for their needs, and we can assist in communicating an accommodations request to third-party claims processors and an employer's Human Resources department as appropriate.

Copied from JAN's website:

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on job accommodations and disability employment issues. Serving customers across the United States and around the world for 40 years, JAN provides free one-on-one practical guidance and technical assistance on job accommodation solutions, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation, and self-employment and entrepreneurship options for people with disabilities. JAN provides individualized consultation to assist:

1. Employers and their representatives seeking guidance on practical ways to engage in the interactive process, provide job accommodation solutions, and comply with Title I of the ADA

2. Individuals with health conditions and disabilities seeking information about job accommodation solutions, employment rights under the ADA, and self-employment and entrepreneurship opportunities

3. Family members and rehabilitation, medical, educational, and other professionals in their effort to support successful employment outcomes for individuals with health conditions and disabilities.



https://askjan.org/publications/index.cfm?fbclid=IwY2xjawE1WaRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYww7jTdJOtEzf80gmkDr_Aupl7SyVt5YHAL2pSy8A7jxQbmGoVQyr7BPQ_aem_b3Vkh-onEGkMiWUor72wJA

Listing of JAN Publications and Articles

07/20/2024

This is a special certification for us to have!

Why get certified? We really want to display all the ways in which HMC staff are individually unique and how we come together as a team, as this is one aspect that shows who we are. The next certification in the works is the Veteran-Owned Small Business certification which is overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Pennsylvania aims to fulfill nearly 31% of contracts with businesses owned by minority, women, LGBTQ, disabled, or veteran business owners, and this is another incentive for all businesses to really go out of their way to celebrate diversity.

06/01/2024

Happy Pride Month from Hope and Meaning Counseling! Today is “picture day” for us, we are going to have some photo updates to the website soon. It was a great occasion to give out these beautiful ornaments to our staff to celebrate this welcoming and accepting month. All really and truly are welcome here.

🏳️‍🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🩵🩷🤍🏳️‍🌈

04/07/2024

If you are a client of ours who has short-term disability processed through Sedgwick:

We are sending paperwork to Sedgwick AND to you through email - even if you see we are sending it to Sedgwick, please also upload all your paperwork from us into your portal account with Sedgwick. If Sedgwick receives paperwork from us and also from you, it’s more likely that it will be processed quicker. Not sure how to set up a portal through Sedgwick? Please contact Sedgwick directly at: (855) 473-7830 and they will walk you right through it.

When you get anything from Sedgwick, especially short-term disability approval packets, please forward it to us at:

⭐️ disabilityinfo@hopeandmeaning.com ⭐️

These packets have important information that we need in order to track due dates for your extension requests, and they will also tell us if we need to complete accommodation requests for you as well.