Anxiety
Worry that never quite switches off, treated with practical CBT so your days feel steadier.
Psychological Services for the NAU Community
Confidential counseling and psychological testing for Northern Arizona University students, faculty, and staff, from an independent practice off campus.
University life produces its own kinds of pressure. An undergraduate is managing the first real independence of adulthood; a graduate student carries a research program and a teaching load at the same time; faculty and staff work inside departments small enough that everyone notices everything. We provide counseling and psychological evaluation shaped around those circumstances.
This is a private practice rather than a campus service, and for many people that separation is the deciding factor. Our office at 710 N Beaver Street is a walkable distance from NAU, so an appointment can fit between classes, and secure video is there for the weeks when getting across town is not realistic.
An independent practice, off campus
nau.guru is run by Psychotherapy.Com℠, the Flagstaff practice of Arizona Behavioral Health Associates, P.C. We are not part of Northern Arizona University, Campus Health, or any department, and your records stay with us. The same clinicians see clients across the state; you can read about that on our Arizona services page.
Counseling and Testing for the University Community
These six areas come up most often in our work with undergraduates, graduate researchers, and academic staff, and we treat each as continuing care rather than a check-in.
Anxiety, Stress & Social Phobia
Performance anxiety, seminars, presentations, perfectionism that never quite pays off: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to address the avoidance underneath all of it and to make a workable week possible again.
ADHD & Academic Evaluations
A formal psychological and academic evaluation provides the documentation Disability Resources (DR) generally requires, along with an independent answer about attention, learning, and which accommodations would genuinely help.
Depression & Mood Disorders
A new campus can be isolating and a long program can grind. Treatment rebuilds routine first, then examines the conclusions low mood draws about ability, belonging, and whether the program is worth finishing.
Mindfulness & Burnout Prevention
Burnout is a loss of meaning more than of energy. For stretched graduate students, faculty, and staff, we look at workload, recovery, and the internal standards that turn rest into something resembling failure.
Identity Exploration & LGBTQ+ Support
These are the years when a great many people work out who they are. Sessions offer a culturally aware space to think that through at your own speed, apart from the immediate reactions of roommates, peers, or family.
Couples & Relationship Health
Academic life strains relationships in specific ways: a partner in another time zone, a summer spent apart, two careers running on separate academic clocks. Couples work here stays practical about all three.
Concerns We Help With
Whether you meet us by secure video or in person at our Flagstaff office, these are the concerns we most often help with.
Depression
Low mood that drains interest and energy, met with patient, structured care that rebuilds one step at a time.
Trauma
Careful, paced work for difficult experiences, with you in control of what you share and when.
ADHD assessment and coaching
Clear testing when you need answers, and practical coaching for the schedules and habits that follow.
Young adults
Support through the first years on your own: school, work, independence, and the relationships that come with them.
Burnout and stress
For professionals running on empty: therapy for the exhaustion, and coaching for the work habits underneath it.
Working Around an Academic Calendar
The semester dictates a great deal, and we plan around it. An evaluation sought for accommodations is scheduled with the relevant deadlines in mind, and a course of therapy is paced to survive finals, breaks, and a summer away. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is our main framework because it produces skills you can use during a hard week. There is no quick fix in this work, and progress depends heavily on what happens between appointments. Where a plan should involve a prescriber, a campus office, or a physician, we will say so.
Your Care Team
Two clinicians see clients from the NAU community: a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Licensed Professional Counselor who also handles intake.
Counseling Services
Alethea Braun-Dunagan, M.A.
Licensed Professional Counselor · Intake Specialist
Alethea Braun-Dunagan, M.A., LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor who completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Northern Arizona University and has lived in Flagstaff for many years. She counsels students and staff on anxiety, stress management, relationships, and university transitions, and offers new clients a complimentary 20-minute video consultation.
Request an appointment
Psychological Services
Della S. Lusk, Ph.D.
Clinical Director · Bilingual Clinical Psychologist
Della S. Lusk, Ph.D., is our Clinical Director and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist whose practice spans more than twenty-five years. Her background includes extensive experience providing therapy across a wide range of concerns and ages. She conducts psychological and academic evaluations, including testing relevant to attention and learning when accommodations are being sought, and she provides ongoing therapy.
Request an appointmentFull biographies, training, and areas of expertise are listed on our providers page. You are welcome to ask any clinician directly about their qualifications and experience.
Confidentiality and Your Records
We are an independent practice, so your clinical record is held here and not within the university. Information is not released to professors, advisors, administrators, or Campus Health without your written authorization. If you would like to know precisely how confidentiality works and where its legal limits lie, ask at the first appointment and we will go through it with you.
Students who travel home out of state are a familiar situation here, and authorization for a telehealth session follows your physical location at the time of that session rather than your permanent address. Dr. Lusk practices under PSYPACT®, and counseling across state lines falls under the Counseling Compact™; each publishes its own current list of participating states. Tell the office your dates and we will confirm what is possible before you go.
In-Person and Telehealth Options
The office at 710 N Beaver Street is close enough to campus to walk to, which makes an appointment between classes realistic. Secure video covers the rest: an illness, a snowed-in morning, a semester spent somewhere else entirely. Plenty of clients use both across a single year without interrupting the plan.
Continuing Care Away From Flagstaff
Going home for the summer or a winter break does not automatically mean therapy stops. Because authorization depends on where you are sitting during the session, ask our office about your destination and we will check it against the participating states beforehand.
Getting to the office
We are at 710 N Beaver Street, BLDG 4, in the Flagstaff Doctors’ Village, about five blocks south of Flagstaff Medical Center. The office has a large, dedicated parking lot, entered from Leroux Street, and there is on-street parking on Beaver and Sullivan Streets. Parking and facilities are wheelchair accessible, and bicycle racks stand directly across from the main entrance.
By bus, we are across the street from Stop 30 (Stop Code 68) on Mountain Line’s Blue Route (Route 2); the agency’s live route map shows the next arrival. The Blue Route (Route 2) meets Route 10, which runs through the NAU campus, at the Downtown Connection Center, so the trip from campus is one connection.
Inside, the suite has separate entry and exit doors, so arriving and departing clients do not pass one another in a waiting room. It is a small piece of the building’s design that does a lot for privacy and confidentiality.
Common Questions From the NAU Community
Will the university know I am in therapy?
We are a separate practice, and your record stays with us. Nothing goes to NAU, Campus Health, or your academic department unless you authorize it in writing, and we would talk through what any particular release contains before it was sent.
Can you provide testing for Disability Resources (DR) accommodations?
Yes. Dr. Lusk conducts psychological and academic evaluations of the kind university disability offices generally ask for when considering accommodations related to attention, learning differences, or a psychological condition. Which components are needed depends on the question being asked.
What will an appointment cost?
Our rates are sent in a fee agreement when you schedule an appointment. Our office goes over any out-of-network questions with you ahead of a first appointment; call (928) 774-7997, so it is not something you have to raise with a clinician.
What if I go home to another state for the summer?
Care can often continue by video, and it depends on where you will be. Authorization follows your physical location during a session, and PSYPACT® and the Counseling Compact™ each publish the participating states; the PSYPACT® list is at psypact.gov. Give the office your dates and we will check.
How do I get started?
Telephone the office and ask for a consultation. Ms. Braun-Dunagan, our intake specialist, will talk with you about what you hope to work on, send the fee agreement beforehand, and arrange a first appointment with either her or Dr. Lusk.
Getting started
Call the Beaver Street office to arrange a consultation for counseling or an evaluation. We will ask what you are hoping to work on, send the fee agreement in advance, and look for a time that sits outside your class or teaching schedule.
Call (928) 774-7997Payment and insurance for NAU clients
We accept all major credit and debit cards, and we gladly accept HSA, FSA, and HRA cards so you can use pre-tax dollars toward your care. Our practice generally operates out-of-network. This allows us to protect your privacy, keep care highly personalized, and avoid insurance-mandated session limits.
Our rates are sent in a fee agreement when you schedule an appointment. Please check with your insurance company regarding your out-of-network benefits. As a courtesy, we will submit claims on your behalf upon request, and any reimbursement will be sent directly to the insured. Call (928) 774-7997 or email info@psychotherapy.com if you have questions.
Our services are by appointment only, during normal business hours. Evening, weekend, and early morning appointments are sometimes available for established clients.
If you need urgent help
We do not offer crisis, walk-in, or inpatient services of any type, and this page is not a substitute for emergency care.
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.
- If you are having thoughts of suicide or are in emotional distress, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.
- To request a routine appointment, use the scheduling link on this page or call (928) 774-7997 during business hours.
This page provides general information about psychotherapy, counseling, and psychological testing services. It is not medical or psychological advice, does not create a clinician–client relationship, and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Whether a particular service is appropriate for you is determined with a clinician during a confidential consultation. Arizona Behavioral Health Associates, P.C., 710 N Beaver Street, BLDG 4, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-3139 · (928) 774-7997