Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sheila Howard, left, recently joined the staff of Karuna Counseling. Karuna Counseling is presently part of Western Nebraska Community College's Innovation and Entrepreneurship program.
In August 2018, Nichole Peralta announced her opening of a new counseling service in Sidney, Karuna Counseling.
The name is rather fitting, as a sanskrit word that is translated as "any action that is taken to diminish the suffering of others", or also translated as compassionate action. It is rather fitting Peralta would call her office Karuna. The more compassionate services she offered, the more were needed. Hanging her shingle in public quickly lead to more clientele than she expected.
She recently connected with Sheila Howard who was wanting to return to a more full-time work environment. Howard is a Sidney native. Her husband is from the area as well, a Creek Valley High School graduate.
She left the area and attended Liberty University in Virginia, completing a master's degree in professional counseling. She is currently working under a provisional license.
She is skilled at mental health counseling and addiction counseling; most mental health needs, Howard said.
Prior to adding to the staff of Karuna Counseling at Western Nebraska Community College, Howard completed an internship with Panhandle Mental Health and then worked part-time with Angela Neinhueser. She was part-time because she also had a young son who needed her attention.
When she was ready to return to full-time work, she followed up on the announcement of Peralta opening her practice in the WNCC Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship center and has been practicing for about two months.
"She does it all, children through adults," Peralta said.
Some of the trends Howard is seeing in counseling needs is substance abuse and mental health, and where the two issues intertwine. She is also seeing a rise in depression. She is also working with ESU 13.
Howard is available 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays. She can be reached by phone at 308-249-7853. She accepts Region 1 clients and also accepts Blue Cross Blue Shield payments.
Peralta credits WNCC and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program for their success.
"Without the I & E Center, this wouldn't have happened," she said.
Reader Comments(0)