The best way to contact me is through my email address, KevinFaustCounseling@gmail.com.

My office number, 808-720-EMDR (3637), typically goes straight to voice mail since this is a private practice and I am typically in sessions with clients all day. You may also text my office number if you like, but email is best for many reasons. Email gives you a lot more space to give me the information I will need. I need to know what your presenting issues are, your gender and age, if you plan to use insurance or pay out of pocket, and what you are hoping to get out of therapy.

Currently I am able to accept HMSA and AlohaCare as well as Quest (Medicaid) from those 2 companies.

I offer mental health counseling for adult individuals in Hawai’i and Pennsylvania.  I mainly see adult womxn as clients, but may occasionally take on clients who identify as other genders, depending on the circumstances. And depending on maturity level, I may take clients as young as 13 years old. I primarily use telehealth (video) sessions currently. I am trained in EMDR therapy, but also use techniques involving somatic experience therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing, feminist theory, and many others.

I specialize in working with womxn who have been through narcissistic/psychopathic abuse by men, but every client is different and I realize similar abuse can come from many different places. My clients often come to me with narcissistic abuse from their caregivers in childhood. Similar abuse can come out of institutions or even larger cultural or government systems. If you identify as a womxn, have been the victim of domestic violence or narcissistic abuse, or think you may have been in a pathological love relationship (PLR), please reach out.

I am licensed in two different states (Hawai’i and Pennsylvania), have a national board certification, and hold liability insurance to cover myself and my practice. 

I am only able to accept HMSA insurance at this time as an “in-network provider.” If you have different insurance other than HMSA, please contact your insurance provider to see what they reimburse for “out-of-network providers.” Make sure you ask them if they will reimburse for out-of-network telehealth therapy. If they do reimburse, you will need to pay out-of-pocket first, then submit your invoice to your insurance for reimbursement. 

Otherwise clients need to pay out-of-pocket for services.

My full rate for service is $180 per session, but I am able to offer rates as low as $90 or less depending upon the client’s household income and my availability. The American Counseling Association Code of Ethics encourages counselors to “contribute to society by devoting a portion of their professional activity to services for which there is little or no financial return.” I do my best to work with clients to fit their financial needs. If you would like to know more, email me at KevinFaustCounseling@gmail.com for more information.

The short answer is that there is not one of these that is always the best choice. Perhaps what is most important is finding the right clinician for you and your needs.

The terminology can be confusing and I totally understand that, so let me try to clear this up for you a bit…

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor  who specializes in psychiatric (mental health) medicine. This person can help you with the medical side of mental health. It is extremely rare that a psychiatrist would do therapy, but a good psychiatrist should be highly recommending that their patients who take mental health medications also find a mental health therapist. Research is clear that when a patient gets therapy along with their medication it shows much better outcomes than medication alone.

A psychologist is someone with a non-medical doctorate degree in the field of psychology. A psychologist may also be credentialed as a therapist (clinical psychologist), but may primarily be trained more in research, assessment, or education rather than therapy. Do not fall into thinking that a psychologist is going to be better than other therapists. As a licensed counselor I am trained specifically in clinical mental health counseling, so that is what I do best.

A therapist is anyone credentialed to provide therapy. This could be a counselor, social worker, marriage and family therapist, or psychologist, as long as they are trained in providing therapy. 

A marriage and family therapist (MFT or LMFT) is specifically trained at a masters level to provide therapy for couples and families and the issues that accompany these. 

*Some states do allow people to be therapists without a masters degree, but this is usually just in specialized fields that are difficult to staff, such as substance abuse counselors. To my knowledge, a therapist that does not have a masters degree cannot be licensed as a therapist in the United States, but would have to work under, and bill under, someone who is licensed. 

A social worker is someone who has a degree in social work or something similar. If a social worker is a therapist, they should have a masters degree at minimum in the United States and credentials after their name to indicate a clinical aspect to their training such as LCSW (licensed clinical social worker), or at least be working towards that licensure. 

Counselors are not as easy to define due to different states having different credential designations. It may be best to look at the letters after their name and plug them into a search engine to find out what they mean.

I am officially “Kevin Faust, MS, LMHC, LPC, NCC, NATC, CCTP-II” at this moment.

It is not advised to put more than 3 credentials after one’s name in many cases so I typically do not list the “MS” after my name. One can safely assume that if a counselor is licensed, they have a masters degree at least. And since I live in Hawaii, I tend to leave the Pennsylvania “LPC” off as well.

My credentials explained…

MS = master of science degree
LMHC = licensed mental health counselor (Hawai’i)
LPC = licensed professional counselor (Pennsylvania)
NCC = national certified counselor (board-certified)
NATC = narcissistic abuse treatment clinician
CCTP-II = certified clinical trauma professional level 2

I am licensed in Hawai’i and in Pennsylvania. According to licensure rules as well as regulations of the American Counseling Association (ACA), I can only work with clients who are physically located in states where I am licensed to practice, although these laws are loosening up nationally and I may be able to soon see clients in most states. But for now, I can only see clients who are physically located in Hawai’i or Pennsylvania. I am currently based out of Hilo, Hawai’i.