The Hope Center in Corsicana, Texas, has a special focus on mental health services access for moms and dads in the area. Among the pregnancy help medical clinic’s numerous services such as ultrasound, material support, parenting education, and post-abortion support, the Hope Center offers a clinical counseling program, led by Licensed Professional Counselor Tara Podjenski.
Podjenski first started volunteering to counsel at the center once a week. Director Lauren Venable quickly realized the potential for Podjenski’s role to expand with the need for mental health care for clients. Venable asked her about becoming full-time and after six months of discernment Podjenski officially joined the team.
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It hadn’t ever crossed Podjenski’s mind to work full-time for a pregnancy center, but the mission and faith-based environment coupled with Venable’s consistent urging drew her in.
Podjenski particularly likes the fact that each day starts with prayer before proceeding with appointments.
Counseling services offered at the pregnancy help center are conducted just as they are in any clinical environment.
“I'm providing therapeutic sessions just as if they were going to private practice,” Podjenski said.
But unlike conventional counseling centers, these sessions are at no cost to the clients.
Pregnancy help brings varied needs for counseling and the opportunity to provide comprehensive assistance to women and families.
Podjenski had been walking with one mother after her stillbirth for almost two years.
In fact, Podjenski says that as many as one in four of her clients are dealing with pregnancy loss. She opens these appointments to women who have experienced loss within the past 3 months, whether they are a previous Hope Center client during their pregnancy or not. Her client traffic at Hope Centers tracks with the statistic that one in four women experience a miscarriage.
“When you see it, you can't ignore it.” Podjenski said.
“It is the reality of pregnancy,” she said. “So, how can you provide services for this population and not provide services for the pregnancy loss population.”
Some of her pregnancy loss clients come to the center just for her services, but most of the clients Podjenski sees also come from the center's other services.
The availability of no-cost clinical counseling has become fully integrated into center protocols. The abortion recovery ministry can refer women to counseling, for example. And Podjenski presents at the parenting classes, explaining to those parents that they can see her individually or as a couple.
“They get to know me a little better, and realize I'm not a scary person, and we talk about counseling and what that looks like,” Podjenski explained.
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Some clients want to integrate Christianity into their counseling, but others are not ready for that.
“Regardless of whether they want the spiritual aspect or not, my goal is just to focus on the person that's in front of me and how I can help them heal from whatever pain they have right now,” Podjenski said.
Another stream of clients for clinical counseling comes in the form of a postpartum depression visit. Podjenski typically sees moms come in at four or five weeks postpartum, and she will perform an assessment and provide education on postpartum depression.
In addition to moms, Podjenski also sees men and couples for counseling. When mom and dad get mental health assistance, that can trickle down to positive impact on the children and help the entire family thrive.
Between postpartum depression, couple relationship counseling, pregnancy loss, abortion recovery, and general parenting needs, Podjenski stays busy building relationships with many types of clients.
She would love to see clinical counseling become a more common offering at pregnancy centers.
“If [centers] are providing any kind of services that support women, children, [or] families in 2026, there is definitely a need for mental health services,” she said.
