How Quickly Can I Get a Crisis Counseling Appointment in Edina?
By Cabot Psychological Services · Published 2026-10-14 · Last updated 2026-10-14
You can get crisis help in Edina right away, 24 hours a day, by calling or texting 988, calling 911, or dialing **CRISIS (274747) from a cell phone. A booked crisis counseling appointment is different: it depends on which licensed therapists have open times, and online booking shows those openings without a phone call. Choosing a telehealth session can widen your choices, because online therapy is available anywhere in Minnesota. Cabot Psychological Services checks your insurance before the first visit, including Medicaid and Medicare, so you don’t have to sort out coverage alone. We can’t promise a same-day appointment, so if you need someone today, start with the crisis lines.
Is This a Crisis That Needs Help Right Now?
If someone is thinking about suicide, might hurt themselves or someone else, or cannot stay safe, that person is having an emergency. An emergency needs help now, not a booked appointment. A scheduled session is the right tool for a lot of hard situations, but it’s the wrong tool when safety is at risk in the next few hours.
The signs below mean you should call for help right away:
- Talking about wanting to die or not wanting to be here
- Having a plan or the means to end one’s life
- Giving away belongings or saying goodbyes
- A possible overdose, even if the person seems fine for now
- Hearing or seeing things other people do not
- Not eating or sleeping for days
Some situations are urgent but not emergencies. Panic attacks that keep coming back, being unable to work or get out of bed, a sudden loss, or a family blowup all feel like a crisis, and they are real ones. They fit a fast scheduled session with a licensed therapist. Our page on crisis mental health support at Cabot Psychological Services describes that service in more detail.
| Get help right now | Book a session soon |
|---|---|
| Talk of wanting to die, or a plan | Panic attacks that keep coming back |
| Giving away belongings | Unable to work or get out of bed |
| Possible overdose | Sudden grief after a death or loss |
| Hearing or seeing things others do not | A family blowup or relationship crisis |
| Not eating or sleeping for days | Constant worry that will not let up |
You don’t need to be sure a situation is “bad enough.” If you’re unsure, call 988 and talk it through with a trained counselor.
Where Can You Get Crisis Help in Edina Right Away?
For help within minutes, call or text 988, call 911, or dial **CRISIS (274747) from a cell phone to reach Hennepin County’s mobile crisis team. Each option fits a different kind of moment:
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at any hour, and the service costs nothing. A trained counselor listens, helps you calm down, and talks through what to do next.
- **CRISIS (274747). Dialing **CRISIS from a cell phone connects you to the county mobile crisis team, which can come to you.
- Call 911 for medical danger or violence happening right now, such as an overdose or a weapon in the home.
- The nearest emergency room. M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital is in Edina.
A mobile crisis team is a group of trained mental health staff who respond by phone or in person. They talk with you, help you and your family stay safe in the moment, and connect you to next steps, such as a counseling appointment or a higher level of care.
These crisis lines cover the hours and days before your first counseling session. Using 988 or mobile crisis doesn’t replace ongoing care. And booking a session doesn’t mean you should stop calling crisis lines if things get worse.
How Do You Book a Crisis Counseling Appointment at the Edina Office?
The fastest way to see open times is online booking through SimplePractice, where you pick a slot yourself without waiting on hold. SimplePractice is the scheduling system Cabot Psychological Services uses, and its booking pages run through clientsecure.me. Here’s how booking generally works:
- Open the Cabot online booking page.
- Look for the option that fits you, such as the Edina office or a telehealth session.
- Pick an open time.
- Enter the information the booking page asks for.
- Review the details and confirm the appointment.
Two of Cabot’s services fit this need directly: Crisis Mental Health Support, and Family Crisis Intervention for times when a crisis is affecting the whole family.
Openings change from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour as people book and cancel. Checking online booking shows you the current picture instead of a guess. If nothing fits soon at the Edina office, look at telehealth times, or use the crisis lines while you wait.
Cabot Psychological Services has two office locations, one in Minneapolis and one in Edina, plus telehealth across Minnesota. In a given week, a person living in Edina might find an earlier time at the Minneapolis office or online than at the Edina office, so it’s worth checking all three.
Does checking insurance slow down your first session?
Cabot Psychological Services verifies your coverage before the first appointment, so you do not have to handle benefits on your own during a hard week. Accepted coverage includes Medicaid and Medicare, which is rare among private psychology practices. Insurance verification typically relies on details like these, so have them handy:
- Your insurance card
- Your member ID number
- The policyholder’s name and date of birth
Questions about what your plan covers can wait for that check, so you can pick a time first.
Who might you see for crisis counseling?
The Cabot team includes a licensed psychologist, licensed clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and an alcohol and drug counselor. Amanda Mulfinger, PhD, LP, is the President and Owner of Cabot Psychological Services and holds Minnesota License #LP5029. Credentials across the team span PhD, LP, LICSW, LMFT, LADC, and LGSW under one practice. When you book online, the open times show what’s available for the location or telehealth option you choose.
Can Telehealth Get You Seen Sooner Than an In-Person Visit?
Telehealth can give you more options, because online sessions are available anywhere in Minnesota and you do not have to get to an office. Looking at telehealth times alongside Edina office times gives you a bigger pool of openings to choose from. Whether telehealth is actually sooner depends on that week’s schedule.
Minnesota winters add another reason. From November through February, icy roads and early darkness make driving harder, especially when you already feel shaky. A video session removes the drive, the parking, and the walk across a slick lot.
Telehealth also matters for people outside the metro, where Minnesota has many mental health workforce shortage areas. A family member in greater Minnesota who can’t find a local provider can still reach a licensed therapist at Cabot online.
For a video session, you need a private room where others can’t overhear, a phone, tablet, or computer with a camera, and a steady internet connection.
In some cases an in-person visit at the Edina office may feel better. A crowded apartment or a tense household can leave you with no private place to talk honestly. Some people simply want to sit in a room with someone face to face during a crisis. That’s a good reason to choose the office.
What Happens in a First Crisis Counseling Session?
A first crisis session focuses on getting you safe and calm, then builds a short, clear plan for the next few days. Longer-term goals can wait.
Expect direct questions about self-harm and suicide. A clinician may ask whether you’ve had thoughts of ending your life, whether you have a plan, and whether you have access to means. These are routine safety checks, asked with non-judgment. Asking directly doesn’t put ideas in your head. It gives your clinician an accurate picture of your risk so the plan matches what you actually need.
Many first crisis sessions end with a safety plan, a short written list you keep on your phone or fridge. A safety plan usually includes:
- Your personal warning signs that a crisis is building
- Calming steps you can take on your own
- People you can call or text
- Places you can go to feel safer or less alone
- Crisis numbers, including 988 and **CRISIS
- Ways to make your home safer, such as storing medicines or firearms elsewhere
You set the pace. You can say “I’m not ready to talk about that yet,” and a trauma-informed clinician will respect that. If you’d like a support person with you, ask when you book whether that person can join part of the session.
After the crisis eases, many people continue with ongoing therapy. Options at Cabot include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and trauma-informed care, in person or online.
How Can Parents Get a Child or Teen Seen Quickly in Edina?
If your child is unsafe right now, call 988 or dial **CRISIS to reach Hennepin County’s mobile crisis team. For a scheduled visit, book online with a Cabot clinician who sees children and teens.
Children and teens often show a crisis through behavior before they put it into words. Watch for:
- Sudden refusal to go to school
- Self-harm marks, such as cuts, burns, or bruises they will not explain
- Talk about dying or not wanting to exist
- Refusing food or a sharp change in eating
- Big changes in sleep or a sudden drop in friends
Cabot Psychological Services offers three services that fit a family in this spot. Child and Adolescent Therapy supports kids and teens with anxiety, depression, behavioral challenges, and trouble managing emotions. Family Crisis Intervention helps the whole household when a crisis is pulling everyone in. Parent-Child Conflict Resolution helps when arguments between you and your child have become part of the problem.
Parents in Edina, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, and St. Louis Park can choose the Edina office or a telehealth session. Some teens find a video session from their own room less intimidating than a waiting room, though younger children may do better in person.
Later, once things are steadier, you may want answers to bigger questions. ADHD assessment and psychological testing and evaluation can clarify what’s driving your child’s struggles, but they aren’t crisis steps. Testing typically works best when a child is calm enough to show a true picture of how they think and learn, so it usually comes after the crisis settles.
What should you do while you wait for your child’s appointment?
Keep your child close, make the home safer, and keep crisis numbers handy until the appointment. A few concrete steps help:
- Lock up medicines, sharp objects, and firearms, or store them away from home with a trusted person.
- Stay calm and listen. Avoid lectures or arguments in the moment, even if you feel scared or angry.
- Tell the school counselor if school is part of the stress, so staff can watch for warning signs during the day.
Save 988 and **CRISIS in your phone and your child’s phone. If any warning sign from the list above appears before the appointment, call right away. Don’t wait.
Getting Crisis Support After Trauma, Loss, or a Hard Shift
After a traumatic event, a sudden death, or a hard call at work, you can start with a crisis session and move into trauma therapy, EMDR, or grief counseling once you feel steadier. Cabot Psychological Services offers all three: Trauma Therapy and PTSD Treatment, EMDR Therapy, and Grief Counseling.
Steadiness comes first for a reason. EMDR, short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a structured therapy that helps the brain reprocess painful memories. Deep trauma processing like EMDR usually starts after safety and coping skills are in place, because diving into the worst memories while you’re still in crisis can leave you more flooded, not less. A good clinician checks your stability before starting that work.
Cabot offers specialized support for first responders and healthcare workers. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, and hospital staff carry stress that friends and family may not fully understand. Whether you work in Edina, Bloomington, Eagan, Burnsville, or at a Minneapolis hospital, you can book in person or online.
Sometimes alcohol or drugs are part of the crisis. J Gold, MSW, LICSW, LADC, holds dual Minnesota licenses in clinical social work (#LICSW31202) and alcohol and drug counseling (#LADC306430). Having both lets one clinician address the mental health crisis and the substance use together.
Trauma-informed care means you control what you share and when. You shouldn’t feel pushed to tell the full story in your first session.
Your Fastest Path to Help in Edina
If anyone is in danger right now, call or text 988, call 911, or dial **CRISIS (274747). Do not wait for an appointment.
When you’re ready to book, open our online booking page and compare open times for the Edina office, the Minneapolis office, and telehealth. Pick the earliest one that works for you. We check your insurance before your first visit, so cost questions don’t have to slow you down. Until you’re seen, keep the crisis numbers saved in your phone.
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Cabot Clients Say
"Sessions with Amanda are empowering."
Sessions with Amanda are empowering. She is a deeply kind therapist who has helped me to process, heal, and develop as a person.
"I have been a client of Cabot since the inception in 2010"
I have been a client of Cabot since the inception in 2010; my experience with the therapists and administrative staff have always been positive. I trust them and have referred both family and friends to Cabot and all have come back thanking me for the referral and have benefited from the caring and compassionate work of the Cabot staff.
"Cabot provides a welcoming and safe environment"
Cabot provides a welcoming and safe environment for those who may be struggling or need additional support. Each time I come for an appointment I am welcomed with a smile and hello not only from my therapist but others who pass through the waiting room.
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