Thomas & Associates Counseling & Consulting, Caleb Thomas
Thomas & Associates Counseling & Consulting is a mental health practice located in downtown Iowa City, Iowa, dedicated to providing holistic counseling and consulting services. We specialize in serving multicultural men, teens as well as families and couples who may not always see themselves reflected in traditional mental-health settings providing warm, prompt nonjudgemental care. Our approach recognizes the interconnectedness of the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of each person. We believe that when one area is out of alignment, every other area is affected—and true healing comes from restoring balance across the whole being.
Caleb Thomas, the founder of Thomas & Associates Counseling & Consulting, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Licensed and Ordained Minister. He is also a certified Sex and Porn Addiction Recovery Coach, bringing a unique and much-needed specialty to the region. Caleb is the author of the book Be Porn Free and contributes voluntarily to the Urban Experience Magazine, writing about mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness.
In addition to his clinical work, Caleb serves as an instructor at Kirkwood Community College, where he teaches a seven-week addictions course. His passion for service is centered on supporting underrepresented communities, particularly Black and Hispanic populations, who often face barriers to accessing mental health care. Caleb’s long-term vision is to build Iowa’s first fully multicultural counseling practice staffed by therapists of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to better meet the needs of a changing community.
Caleb’s dedication is shaped by his own lived experience. Understanding the effects of poverty, fear, and lack of information, he advocates for therapy as a transformative tool and works diligently to encourage growth, healing, and empowerment in all clients. With nearly ten years of counseling experience—including five years in private practice—Caleb specializes in treating depression and anxiety, providing premarital and marriage counseling, and supporting teens struggling with behavioral issues and low self-esteem. He also offers a unique specialty in working with boys, teens, and adult men experiencing challenges related to pornography use and addiction. He offers a uniquely respectful space where men, teens, and families can talk openly without fear of pressure or shame.
Caleb has nearly 20 years of experience supporting children, teens and families in depression, anxiety, anger management, couple and family relationships, crisis management as well as life-skills development. He has a unique quality of being able to meet clients where they are and work alongside them to move toward lasting mental well-being with clarity, confidence and hope. He uses holistic solutions-focused, evidence-based methods incorporating emotional, physical and mental well-being thoughtfully integrating faith into the therapeutic healing process when desired. The practice also presently employs an administrative assistant to assist with scheduling, insurance, billing, and office functions.
While there are 17 Mental Health providers in the area, as well as the availability of online providers, two are Christian practices, and none are African American, male-owned and operated. As an African American therapist in a population that is becoming more diverse, our desire as a practice is to help bridge this gap by hiring a diverse group of therapists who can meet the needs of the underrepresented population.
I found out about SCORE from a meeting I attended at Dream City. The lady doing the presentation discussed SCORE and how you can get a mentor, so I applied and I received a contact from Joye and we have been working together since then.
SCORE actually changed my life. My business was dwindling. As clients continued to dwindle, I thought perhaps bringing in a new therapist would help us rebuild. I was at a point where I was looking into spending more time into other potential opportunities that could hopefully bring in some other income. I remember my friend telling me I need to put all my focus and energy just into my practice, and I knew it was true but I didn’t know what to do, or who to turn to. But through prayer and faith, I happened to just check my Facebook and found that Dream City was hosting an event to help your business. At this event I learned about Goodwill and some of their resources, including what grantors and funders look for if they are providing funding for your business. I knew I was in a dire situation and so I thought why not give SCORE a try, as I had nothing to lose but everything to gain. I was blessed to be introduced to the two best mentors in the world.
After meeting with Joye I stopped focusing so much on the money and what was not coming in, and instead I began focusing on the foundational structure that would help my business grow successfully over time. As I began to work with Joye, we meshed together well and she has done nothing but go above and beyond of what I could think expect or ask of her as a volunteer. Joye worked with me to first look at my growth plan I created a few years ago from being the Goldman Sachs program. We were able to use some of that information to create an entire fresh updated and rebranded business plan.
After working hard on the business plan she then introduced me to Bob, who has been helping me on spreadsheets. Bob was able to give me a refresher from what I learned about spreadsheets from the Goldman Sachs program, and he has been helping me to understand my numbers more clearly. The impact for me has been being able to understand the business side of the business and that despite how great of a therapist I may be, it doesn’t matter if I don’t have the business side down, because eventually it will fail. Thank God, this was an answered prayer just in time to begin a fresh new start towards helping my business grow in an upward spring.
SCORE has given me a fresh perspective on business and how important it is to have your branding up to date, and to have your numbers up to date including your future numbers to include growth potential.
I am grateful for my mentors because I am a slow learner, they take time and are very patient when working with me to help me understand things better. One example, is working on my financial spreadsheet with Bob.
Joye goes above and beyond. She has helped me with everything I knew I needed to do, but I just have not had time or know-how. This includes rebranding my business, writing out my new and improved business plan, and ensuring that we include the new language on all platforms, including Psychology Today, LinkedIn, and Google just to name a few.
Joye has also helped me to create letters to be able to send out to businesses, churches, schools, and local non-profits that can use our services. This is huge, as I have been desiring to expand our services to be able to provide some more consulting services to our community.
Bob does an amazing job of helping me to understand my spreadsheet. I still have a lot to learn but I am grateful that every time we meet, I am learning to understand it better. Bob also did a great job of helping me to make sure my numbers were accurate based off what my accountants had down. I was able to go back and review with my C.P.A. to get better clarification to then be able to inform Bob what the numbers represented and why they seemed off. These things would have never been possible and would have just remained a wish and desire without having SCORE to help me achieve my goals.
There are always two parts to having your own business, one is the product you’re producing, and two is the business side, it doesn’t matter if you’re a therapist or a grocery store, if you don’t have the business side down intact and have mentors your business will eventually fail. I was there before having Joye and not seeing the success I wanted, I was almost ready to make a bad decision including going out to hire a new therapist, now I realize I need to build the solid foundation including seeing an increase in clients, as well as other opportunities such as speaking engagements and consulting opportunities before bringing in a new therapist.
I would tell them to weigh the costs and meet with a mentor from SCORE first and foremost and then develop their business plan and operating budget. I didn’t start with SCORE, but I wish I did, as I believe I would have been much further along. I’m just blessed I found out about score and have the opportunity to work with Joye and Bob before throwing in the towel and walking away from the business.
I can help you evaluate business and product concepts and create a strategic marketing plan to...
I can help you with several aspects of small business management including business planning...
