Hendry County had 14 licensed counselors, clinical social workers and family therapists at the state’s last count. A national directory shows 1 with an office in Clewiston. FC PsychExperts sees Clewiston clients by secure video, in 50-minute sessions, and this page covers what the listings leave out: the free help in town, the crisis route and how to check who you’re booking.
Quick answer: FC PsychExperts provides individual therapy to Clewiston residents by secure video, available anywhere in Florida. In-person sessions are at its Jupiter office, about 75 road miles from Clewiston. Sessions run 50 minutes, weekly or every other week. Individual therapy is led by Jessica T. Aloise, LCSW, in a practice founded by Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., Florida license PY9058. In a crisis, call or text 988, or call the mobile response team that covers Hendry County at (844) 395-4432. To book, call (561) 870-0411.
In fiscal year 2023-24, Hendry County had 14 actively licensed mental health counselors, clinical social workers and marriage and family therapists, according to the Florida Department of Health. That’s 33.9 per 100,000 residents. Florida’s rate was 142.7.
Only 7 of the 14 were licensed mental health counselors. The state’s measure leaves out psychologists and psychiatrists, so the full clinician count runs higher. The gap is still wide enough to change how you search.
The Department of Health’s 2023 community health plan for Hendry and Glades counties put mental well-being first among its priorities, and it describes the area as a designated shortage area for mental health services. Cost adds to the problem: 22.7% of Hendry County residents under 65 have no health insurance, and 13.7% in Clewiston itself.
Sources: Florida Department of Health, FLHealthCHARTS, Behavioral/Mental Health Professionals, FY 2023-24 · Florida Department of Health in Hendry and Glades Counties, 2023 Community Health Improvement Plan · U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. The state count excludes psychologists and psychiatrists.
On 19 October 2026, a national therapist directory’s Clewiston page listed 10+ therapists. Of the first 20 cards, 12 were online only, 6 said they serve the area without showing an office, and 1 had an office in Clewiston.
The same directory’s Medicaid filter for Clewiston returned no one. Its Spanish-language filter returned 1 therapist, online only. On its Hendry County page, 6 of the first 20 listings showed an office in the county, and 5 of those were in LaBelle.
Online-only care is legal and common, and Florida holds it to the in-person standard. The listing leaves out what you need to check: which state licensed the clinician, and where they’ll be when you meet.
| What the listing shows | What to check before session 1 |
|---|---|
| Online only | A Florida license, or a Florida telehealth registration for an out-of-state clinician. Florida requires one or the other for ongoing care while you’re in the state, with narrow exceptions (Fla. Stat. 456.47) |
| Serves the area, no office shown | Whether in-person sessions exist at all, and where they happen |
| An office in Clewiston or LaBelle | The street address, and the date of the next in-person opening |
| No license number | Look the clinician up by name on the state portal before you book |
The Florida Department of Health license verification portal shows each license the state issues, its status, and whether discipline is on file. Run the check on us too: Dr. Cathy Colet’s Florida psychologist license is PY9058.
Ask every listing 2 things: which state licensed you, and where will you be during my sessions?
Your coverage decides where to start. For 4 of the 6 situations below, the best first call is somewhere other than this practice.
| What’s in your wallet | Where to start from Clewiston |
|---|---|
| No insurance | Dial 2-1-1. Clewiston has a federally qualified health center with behavioral health that charges on a sliding fee based on income and household size, and 2-1-1 has its number and hours |
| A Florida Medicaid card | Call member services on your card and ask for a behavioral health referral. Hendry County is in Medicaid Region F, which has 5 managed care plans, and 1 of them runs a specialty product for serious mental illness. The health center in Clewiston takes Medicaid too |
| Medicare | Ask any clinician, us included, whether they’re participating, non-participating or opted out of Medicare. Part B covers outpatient therapy with psychologists and clinical social workers, and since January 1, 2024, with counselors and family therapists. 19.2% of Clewiston residents are 65 or older |
| VA health care or TRICARE | If you’re enrolled with the VA, call the VA first. Its Okeechobee clinic, about 35 miles north, lists mental health care, and the VA offers video visits. On TRICARE, check the network before you book |
| Insurance through work | Ask HR whether there’s an employee assistance program. EAPs usually cover a set number of free sessions. Then ask your insurer about out-of-network benefits for outpatient mental health |
| Paying directly | Book with us. Fees are confirmed on the 15-minute call, before anything is booked |
Fees and insurance options here are confirmed on the first call, before anything is booked. If your plan is out of network, the office can provide a superbill so you can request reimbursement.
3 questions. For 4 of the 6 coverage answers, the result is a phone number that isn’t ours. Nothing is stored or sent.
Sources: Fla. Stat. 409.966 · Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, SMMC health plans by region, February 2025 · Medicare.gov, outpatient mental health care · CMS Transmittal 12235 · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · HRSA Health Center Program Compliance Manual, chapter 9 · U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts.
2 free calls narrow the list before you start phoning practices one by one, including practices that aren’t taking new clients or don’t take your coverage.
Dial 2-1-1 from Hendry County, or (239) 433-3900 if 2-1-1 won’t connect from your phone. It answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English and Spanish, and it keeps the list of local programs that take uninsured callers.
In April 2024, a free mental health resource office opened at 1100 S. Olympia Street, in the county building, on a 3-year grant. Its specialist helps people match with providers that fit their coverage. Call 2-1-1 to confirm it’s staffed before you go, because we couldn’t confirm its 2026 hours.
A federally qualified health center in Clewiston offers behavioral health, takes Medicaid and charges on a sliding fee. Federal rules require these centers to serve patients regardless of ability to pay. The first behavioral health visit happens in person, and 2-1-1 has the number and hours.
The VA’s Okeechobee clinic, about 35 miles north of Clewiston, lists mental health care among its services, and the VA offers video visits. If you’re enrolled, call the VA before you pay for care elsewhere.
Sources: 2-1-1 for Lee, Hendry and Glades counties · Hendry County Clerk of Court · HRSA Health Center Program Compliance Manual, chapter 9 · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Programs change. Check with 2-1-1 the week you call.
A weekly therapy appointment can’t respond to a crisis. These 3 numbers can, 24 hours a day.
Don’t wait for a callback from any practice, including this one.
Know the next step before you need it. The receiving facility list the Florida Department of Children and Families published in November 2022 shows no Baker Act receiving facility in Hendry County, and the hospital in Clewiston isn’t one. Under the county’s posted transportation plan, a person taken for an involuntary examination goes to a receiving facility in Fort Myers, about 60 miles west of Clewiston. Adults 65 and older go to a separate Fort Myers hospital.
If someone you love is struggling and safe for now, the mobile response team can come to you anywhere in the county and assess in person.
Sources: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline · Florida Department of Children and Families, mobile response teams and designated receiving facilities (list dated November 2022) · Hendry County Baker Act transportation plan, 2020-2023.
Florida holds therapy by video to the same standard as therapy in a room (Fla. Stat. 456.47). From Clewiston, the questions that decide whether video works are practical ones.
A weekly round trip of more than 3 hours is hard to keep up. Clients here often start in person for the first 2 or 3 sessions, then move to video with the same clinician.
5 situations call for a different first step. Raise any of them on the first call.
This is an outpatient practice with scheduled appointments. Call or text 988, call the mobile response team at (844) 395-4432, or call 911 if someone is in danger.
Our clinicians don’t prescribe. Florida doesn’t give psychologists or licensed clinical social workers prescribing authority. A primary care doctor or a psychiatric prescriber handles medication, and therapy can run alongside it.
We can’t offer that from about 75 miles away. The health center in Clewiston sees behavioral health patients in person, and 2-1-1 can tell you which practices in the county have openings.
If the question is whether something beyond stress or low mood is going on, a neuropsychological evaluation is built to answer it, and the practice runs those in-house.
Our psychologists are court-qualified expert witnesses in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which hears Hendry County cases. The next section explains why that matters before you book.
Therapy in Florida is privileged. The statute names 3 exceptions, and 2 other laws lift the privilege in abuse cases.
Under Fla. Stat. 90.503, you can refuse to disclose, and stop others from disclosing, what you told a psychotherapist for diagnosis or treatment. That covers licensed psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors. The privilege doesn’t apply to:
Asking for custody doesn’t waive the privilege on its own, Florida appeals courts have held. Claiming an emotional injury in a lawsuit generally opens the records that bear on it.
Hendry County cases are heard in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit, at the courthouse in LaBelle. Our psychologists are court-qualified expert witnesses across 5 Florida circuits, the 20th among them.
If you’re a party in a Hendry County matter where this practice could be asked to evaluate someone, starting therapy here could cost you the therapist, the evaluator or both. So the first call includes a conflict check, and if we can’t stay objective, we tell you before anything is booked.
If someone the practice has treated later needs a forensic opinion, the evaluation goes to someone else, every time. 1 person can’t hold both jobs without damaging both, and forensic psychology’s practice guidelines warn against the dual role (Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology, guideline 4.02.01). The practice’s guide to whether a Florida court can order therapy explains how the 2 roles differ.
If a judge has ordered you into treatment, that’s a separate service. Court-ordered therapy, which works differently, has its own page.
This is general information and isn’t legal advice. Ask your attorney how therapy records apply to your case. Sources: Fla. Stat. 90.503, 39.204, 415.1045 and 26.021.
The first session runs 50 minutes. Your therapist asks what brought you in and what you’d like to change, and together you settle how often to meet, weekly or every other week.
For the service at county level, see individual therapy across Palm Beach County.
Find a quiet room and charge your phone or laptop. You don’t need a diagnosis to start, and you don’t need to have the words worked out.
Weekly or every other week is the usual rhythm. You and your therapist review progress together and decide the pace.
For a focused concern such as anxiety or a life change, people often notice change within 6 to 12 sessions. Deeper or trauma-related work can take longer.
Jessica leads individual therapy here, with more than 20 years of work with individuals, couples and families. Her approach is relational, integrative and strengths-based, with room for mindfulness when it helps.
Focus areas: emotional healing · relationships · communication · regulation · recovery · personal growth
Dr. Colet founded Forensic and Clinical PsychExperts, LLC, and directs clinical care. She has worked on Florida court cases since 2008 and is a court-qualified expert witness across Florida’s 1st, 15th, 17th, 19th and 20th Judicial Circuits.
Member of: American Psychological Association · Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Both work inside FC PsychExperts.
Secure video reaches anywhere in Florida. These are the communities around Clewiston and the south and west shores of the lake.
No. FC PsychExperts sees Clewiston residents by secure video, available anywhere in Florida. In-person sessions are at the Jupiter office, 210 Jupiter Lakes Blvd Bldg 4000, Unit 201, Jupiter, FL 33458, about 75 road miles from Clewiston.
In fiscal year 2023-24, the Florida Department of Health counted 14 actively licensed mental health counselors, clinical social workers and marriage and family therapists in Hendry County. That’s 33.9 per 100,000 residents, against 142.7 for Florida as a whole. The count leaves out psychologists and psychiatrists.
Yes. Fla. Stat. 456.47 requires a telehealth provider to practice to the same standard of care that applies to in-person treatment in Florida. At FC PsychExperts, a video session runs the same 50 minutes as an office session, with the same clinician.
Ask on the first call. Fees and coverage are confirmed before anything is booked. Hendry County is in Medicaid Region F, which has 5 managed care plans. Member services on your plan card can make a behavioral health referral, and the federally qualified health center in Clewiston takes Medicaid.
Ask on the first call, and ask whether the clinician you’d see is participating, non-participating or opted out of Medicare. If a clinician has opted out, Medicare pays nothing and you pay the full fee under a private contract. Medicare Part B covers outpatient therapy, including sessions by video.
Dial 2-1-1, or (239) 433-3900 if 2-1-1 won’t connect from your phone. It answers 24 hours a day in English and Spanish. Ask about the federally qualified health center in Clewiston, which offers behavioral health on a sliding fee, and about the free mental health resource office at 1100 S. Olympia Street. If you’d rather pay directly, fees here are confirmed on the 15-minute call.
Call or text 988, or call the mobile response team that covers Hendry County at (844) 395-4432. Both answer 24 hours a day, and crisis help from the team costs nothing. Call 911 if someone is in immediate danger. Hendry County has no Baker Act receiving facility, so an involuntary examination takes place at a receiving facility in Fort Myers.
No. Florida doesn’t give psychologists or licensed clinical social workers authority to prescribe medication. A primary care doctor or a psychiatric prescriber handles medication, and therapy here can run alongside it.
Usually. Fla. Stat. 90.503 protects what you tell a psychotherapist, with exceptions for involuntary hospitalization proceedings, court-ordered examinations and conditions you rely on in a claim or defense, plus abuse cases under ss. 39.204 and 415.1045. Hendry County cases are heard in the 20th Judicial Circuit, where our psychologists are court-qualified expert witnesses, so tell the office about any case before the first session.
Ask on the first call. Neither clinician named on this page lists Spanish, so confirm before you book. 2-1-1 answers in English and Spanish and can point you to other options.
Contact the office to ask about session fees, insurance coverage, and availability. If a court matter in Hendry County involves you, mention that before your first appointment.