The Heights Difference · Houston
The Heights Difference
Treatment built around the person, not the program. Heights Behavioral Health is a private, boutique outpatient practice for adults navigating mental health, trauma, substance use, and behavioral addictions, and nearly everything about how we work is deliberately different from the treatment industry around us. Private pay, with superbills for out-of-network reimbursement.
01Individualized, Never Templated
02Master’s-Level Specialists
03Dual Diagnosis-Forward
04Private Pay · Superbills
The Heights Standard
A higher standard of outpatient care
Exceptional treatment is not a single feature. It is the discipline of doing many things well, consistently, for every person who walks through the door. Most programs are built around a census and a curriculum; Heights is built around the individual, with the clinical depth of a specialty practice and the discretion of a private one. What follows is exactly what that means in practice, commitment by commitment.
Why We Exist
“We built Heights because we watched too many capable adults get handed a curriculum when what they needed was a clinician. Treatment should be built around the person in front of you. That is not a luxury. It is what care was always supposed to be.”
Joni Ogle, LCSW, CSAT · Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Four Commitments
How we work, every time
Four commitments define the practice. Every plan, every clinician, and every decision runs through them.
01
The Plan
Individualized Care
Every plan is built around one person’s history, goals, and co-occurring needs, not a fixed curriculum or a 30, 60, or 90-day template. Length, intensity, and modalities are set by clinical need and adjusted as you progress.
02
The People
Specialized Clinicians
Licensed, master’s-level therapists with focused, advanced training: CSAT, EMDR, CPT, Somatic Experiencing, and neurofeedback. Over 200 years of combined experience, and content clinically reviewed by named clinicians.
03
The Methods
Evidence-Based & Experiential
Proven therapies, CBT, DBT, ACT, motivational interviewing, and trauma modalities, alongside equine, art, mindfulness, and trauma-informed yoga, because some healing happens beyond the therapy chair.
04
The Setting
Privacy & Discretion
Confidential, private-pay care in a boutique Heights setting, with evening and virtual options that protect careers. Nothing is shared with anyone without your written authorization.
What We Do Differently
The differences you can actually feel
Plenty of programs use the same words we do. These are the operational differences, the ones a client or a referring professional notices within the first week.
No Templates
No Fixed Program Length
There is no predetermined schedule to age out of. An ASAM-guided assessment sets the starting intensity, and the plan steps down as you stabilize and back up if you need more, with the same team throughout. Care ends when the work is done, not when a calendar says so.
One Team
Everything Under One Plan
Therapy, groups, family work, and psychiatric medication management live in one coordinated plan, with one team, so nothing falls through the cracks between a therapist, a prescriber, and a program that never speak. Dual diagnosis is our default, not a specialty track.
Rare Expertise
The Conditions Others Miss
CSAT-led sex and love addiction treatment, gambling and technology addiction care, and Pia Mellody and Daring Way trained clinicians make us one of the few Houston practices built for process addictions, the referrals hardest to place anywhere else.
Beyond Talk
Therapy That Reaches the Body
Trauma and compulsive behavior live in the nervous system, so our bench extends past conversation: EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, neurofeedback, and experiential work including equine and art therapy reach what talk alone cannot.
Beyond the Session
Real-World Support Built In
Recovery mentoring and sober companioning through our sister practice, Heights Mentoring, extend care into daily life, and in our flagship program, mentoring steps up as clinical steps down, so structure hands off smoothly to everyday life.
By Design
Private Pay, On Purpose
No insurance authorizations capping your length of stay or dictating your modalities, and no surprise bills. Transparent pricing from the first call, detailed superbills for out-of-network reimbursement, and privacy that private pay uniquely protects.
Our Flagship
Individualized Intensive Programming
Most programs place everyone on the same schedule. Our flagship IIP builds the week around the individual, at the clinical intensity of partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient care, shaped from the pieces each person actually needs, with EMDR, trauma work, CSAT-led therapy, and process addiction care woven into whichever phase you are in. For adults who tried standard outpatient care and found it too generic, this is often the difference that makes treatment hold.
Expertise
Care led by named clinicians
Authority is earned through credentials and real expertise. Our care and our clinical content are led and reviewed by named, licensed clinicians, not generic staff, and our full team brings specialized one-on-one training in CPT, EMDR, neurofeedback, and Somatic Experiencing.
Founder & CEO
Joni Ogle, LCSW, CSAT
A Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist with decades of clinical experience in addiction, trauma, and compulsive behavior. Joni built the practice around individualized, master’s-level care for the concerns other programs overlook.
Chief Clinical Officer
Deborah Darnell-Drake, LCSW-S, ACSW, LMFT
A licensed clinical supervisor and marriage and family therapist who leads clinical quality and reviews our clinical content for accuracy, so what we publish holds to the same standard as what we practice.
The Admissions Experience
One call, and a clear path forward
Starting is simple and confidential. One conversation with our Houston team leads to a clinical assessment, transparent pricing, and a plan built around you, even if the honest answer is that the right next step is somewhere other than here. That honesty is part of the difference. Learn more about how admissions works.
Start Confidentially
Prefer to start in writing?
Tell us a little about what is going on and the best way to reach you. A member of our admissions team will follow up personally and discreetly. Please do not include sensitive medical details in the form.
Call (877) 549-5102
Confidential Consultation Request
Common Questions
The Heights difference, answered
If you do not see your question here, call our admissions team at (877) 549-5102 and we will walk you through it.
Why are you private pay instead of in-network?
By design. Insurance authorizations cap length of treatment, limit modalities, and push everyone toward the same predetermined program. Private pay lets clinical need drive every decision and protects your privacy, and we provide detailed superbills so out-of-network benefits can offset part of the cost.
Do you take insurance?
We are private pay and also work with out-of-network benefits. We provide detailed superbills to submit to your insurer, and we explain costs clearly and verify your specific benefits before you commit to anything.
What makes Heights Behavioral Health different?
Care is built around the person rather than a fixed program: no predetermined length of stay, one team managing therapy, groups, family work, and medication management in a single plan, rare specialty expertise in process addictions, experiential and body-based therapies alongside talk therapy, real-world mentoring, and transparent private-pay pricing.
Who leads the clinical care?
Named, licensed clinicians: founder and CEO Joni Ogle, LCSW, CSAT, and Chief Clinical Officer Deborah Darnell-Drake, LCSW-S, ACSW, LMFT, leading a master’s-level team with over 200 years of combined experience and specialized training in CSAT, EMDR, CPT, Somatic Experiencing, and neurofeedback.
What is Individualized Intensive Programming?
Our flagship program: treatment at the clinical intensity of PHP or IOP, built around the individual rather than a shared schedule, moving through three structured phases with recovery mentoring stepping up as clinical intensity steps down.
What is experiential therapy, and why do you use it?
Experiential work, equine and art therapy, mindfulness, and trauma-informed yoga, engages the body and emotions directly. Trauma and compulsive behavior live in the nervous system, and these approaches reach what conversation alone sometimes cannot.
What conditions do you treat?
Adult mental health including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, OCD, and postpartum concerns, trauma and PTSD, substance use, and process and behavioral addictions including gambling, technology, and sex and love addiction, treated together when they co-occur.
How do I start?
Call (877) 549-5102 or send a confidential message. One conversation with admissions leads to a confidential ASAM-guided assessment, transparent pricing, and a plan built around you, often within days.
Clinically reviewed by Joni Ogle, LCSW, CSAT. Last updated July 2026. Heights Behavioral Health provides licensed outpatient behavioral health care for adults in Houston, Texas, delivered by master’s-level clinicians. This page is for education and is not medical advice.
Contact Admissions
Begin with a confidential conversation
Whether for yourself or someone you love, one call is the first step toward care designed around the person.
Crisis Notice
Heights Behavioral Health provides scheduled outpatient care and is not an emergency or crisis service. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 if someone is in immediate danger.
