Therapy in the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee
Willow & Arbor is a clinically supervised therapy practice in Johnson City, TN, serving the Tri-Cities region and surrounding communities. The office is at 508 E Unaka Ave, Suite 1, just off Exit 22 on I-26, easily accessible from Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, Jonesborough, and nearby communities.
If you live anywhere in the Tri-Cities region, you're probably already making regular trips into Johnson City for work, healthcare, shopping, school, or family obligations. For many people, therapy at Willow & Arbor fits into routes they already know. If the drive doesn't work for your schedule, telehealth is available across Tennessee when clinically appropriate.
Northeast Tennessee has never been very good at simply going along.
Long before Tennessee was a state, the people living in this corner of the mountains tried to form the State of Franklin. It didn't last, and Congress never recognized it, but the impulse behind it never really disappeared. This region has always had a streak of wanting to decide things for itself.
You see the same thing again during the Civil War, when East Tennessee was one of the strongest pockets of Union sentiment in the Confederacy. While the state moved one way, many counties here voted hard the other way. People in this region tried, again, to separate themselves from a larger structure they didn't trust.
That history still feels familiar here. The Tri-Cities have produced things that didn't wait for permission from the usual centers of culture or commerce: the Bristol Sessions, the early story of Mountain Dew, Kingsport's planned industrial experiment, Jonesborough's storytelling tradition. This part of Tennessee has always had a way of building something slightly apart from the expected path.
Willow & Arbor is built in that same regional reality: outside the dominant healthcare networks, private pay, clinically supervised, and clear about who you're seeing before therapy begins. For people who live and work here, that structure can matter.
One Johnson City office serving the broader region.
I-26 is one of the main corridors people use to move through the Tri-Cities, and our office sits just off it.
For many people in this region, coming to see us means having a therapy setting that's close enough to be practical and separate enough from the systems and routines you move through every day. We offer in-person sessions at our Johnson City office and telehealth across Tennessee when privacy, safety, participation, and fit make that appropriate.
This separation matters, especially in the Tri-Cities. The dominant regional healthcare systems and their affiliated practices employ a large share of the region's healthcare workforce. Many of their employees prefer therapy for themselves and their families in a setting that isn't part of the systems where they work, train, supervise, refer, or receive other care.
Willow & Arbor is private pay, doesn't bill insurance, and isn't institutionally connected to any of them. That doesn't remove ordinary clinical recordkeeping or the legal and ethical limits of confidentiality. But it does mean your therapy isn't running through a clinic, hospital network, university health system, or insurance billing pathway with ties to where you work or receive other care.
One office for the broader region: in person in Johnson City, with telehealth across Tennessee when appropriate.
Separate from employer systems: we aren't part of the dominant regional healthcare systems or any employer-connected healthcare system.
Private pay: we don't bill insurance directly. Fees are listed clearly before anything begins.
Serving Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol.
The three anchor cities of the Tri-Cities region each have their own employers, routines, and reasons why someone might prefer therapy outside their immediate community.
Johnson City
Home to ETSU, Milligan, Mountain Home VA, and the region's major healthcare systems. This is where we are.
Kingsport
Home to Eastman, Domtar, Holston Valley, and major regional healthcare employers. About 20 minutes away on I-26.
Bristol
Shaped by the state line, the Bristol Sessions, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Hard Rock. About 25 minutes away.
Serving communities across Washington, Sullivan, Carter, and Unicoi counties.
The Tri-Cities region extends well beyond the three anchor cities. Willow & Arbor serves individuals, couples, children, teens, and families from communities throughout northeast Tennessee, many of whom already travel into Johnson City regularly.
Jonesborough
Tennessee's oldest town, the Washington county seat, and home to the International Storytelling Center. A short drive from our Johnson City office.
Boones Creek
A Washington county community clustered around Exit 17 on I-26, only a short drive from our office at Exit 22.
Elizabethton
A Carter county community with many residents already traveling into Johnson City for work, healthcare, shopping, and appointments.
Erwin and Unicoi county
At the southern end of the Tri-Cities region. I-26 takes you straight to Johnson City and our office is just off that route.
Gray and Fall Branch
Washington county communities near Jonesborough. If you're in Gray or Fall Branch, Johnson City is already part of your regular orbit.
Limestone and Telford
Washington county communities southwest of Jonesborough. If you work in Johnson City and live here, the commute already brings you close.
Colonial Heights and Blountville
Sullivan county communities near Kingsport, home to Northeast State and Tri-Cities Airport. Johnson City is a familiar destination down I-26.
Piney Flats and Bluff City
Sullivan county communities along the Bristol-to-Johnson City corridor. Already part of the same regional geography.
The Tri-Cities draws people from across the region. Some want therapy outside the systems they already move through.
Willow & Arbor is private pay, doesn't bill insurance directly, and isn't connected to the dominant regional healthcare systems or any employer-connected healthcare system.
Healthcare workers
The regional healthcare systems employ a large share of the Tri-Cities clinical workforce. If you work inside those systems, we're not part of them. That separation is structural.
Veterans and military families
Mountain Home VA Medical Center is in Johnson City. Dr. Barteck's extensive VA clinical experience is built into the oversight for every therapist at this practice.
First responders
Police, fire, and EMS across the Tri-Cities carrying accumulated trauma exposure and the weight of what the job requires. Private pay means no department documentation and no third-party access.
Educators
Teachers and staff from schools and institutions across Washington, Sullivan, Carter, and Unicoi counties carrying secondary trauma, vocational grief, and the weight of work that was supposed to mean something.
College students
Students at ETSU, Milligan, Northeast State, and other area institutions. Campus counseling has session limits. We don't.
Leaders and managers
People in visible leadership roles across the region who want therapy outside the community where they're known. Private pay means no insurance claim and no record outside this practice.
Legal professionals
Attorneys and others in the legal profession carrying secondary trauma, the adversarial habit, and a culture that treats vulnerability as incompetence.
Professionals
Professionals across the Tri-Cities who want care outside the networks they work inside, without the visibility concerns that come with therapy in a close regional community.
Browse all
See the full list of populations we work with at Willow & Arbor.
What brings Tri-Cities residents to therapy.
We work with a wide range of concerns at our Johnson City practice. The links below lead to dedicated pages organized by concern area.
Individual concerns
Anxiety, depression, burnout, shame, anger, self-esteem, codependency, perfectionism, loneliness, and other concerns that often bring adults to individual therapy.
Trauma and loss
Trauma, grief, religious trauma, emotional neglect, betrayal, and the lasting effects of experiences that were too much to process alone.
Relationships and couples
Relationship conflict, emotional distance, betrayal, trust issues, marriage counseling, and patterns that keep repeating in close relationships.
Family and parenting
Family conflict, parenting stress, caregiver stress, family communication breakdown, and the strain that accumulates when family systems are under pressure.
Child and teen concerns
Teen anxiety, school stress, mood and behavior changes, social pressure, and identity questions affecting young people across the Tri-Cities region.
Identity and affirming concerns
LGBTQIA+ family stress, hiding or masking identity, faith and culture, and religious trauma - concerns where identity is part of the conversation without being treated as the whole problem.
ADHD, autism and learning differences
ADHD, autism, executive function difficulties, late diagnosis, and the emotional and relational impact of a mind that works differently.
Health and life stage
Chronic illness, postpartum mental health, pregnancy loss, medical stress, and the emotional weight of health changes.
OCD and intrusive thoughts
OCD, intrusive thoughts, health anxiety, eating disorders, and cycles of fear or compulsion that become hard to escape.
How therapy works at Willow & Arbor.
Therapists at Willow & Arbor draw on a range of evidence-based approaches. The method depends on the presenting concern, the person, and what the work calls for.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
One of the most widely used approaches in the field. Useful for anxiety, depression, perfectionism, and the thought patterns that sustain them.
Psychodynamic therapy
Useful for understanding patterns underneath the presenting concern - where they came from, what they're protecting, and what they're costing.
EMDR therapy
Designed for processing traumatic material that stays present in ways talk therapy alone doesn't reach. Relevant for veterans, first responders, and others with trauma exposure.
DBT skills
Particularly useful for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and the intensity of feeling that makes daily life harder to navigate.
Attachment-based therapy
Useful for the relational patterns that repeat across relationships - how early attachment shapes what you look for and how things tend to break down.
Person-centered therapy
A therapeutic relationship built around genuine engagement rather than technique. Useful when the primary need is a consistent, non-judgmental space.
Trauma-informed therapy
An approach to the entire therapeutic relationship that accounts for what repeated trauma exposure does to the nervous system.
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
Used primarily in couples and family therapy to address the emotional patterns underneath conflict and distance.
Browse all methods
See the full list of therapy methods used at Willow & Arbor, with dedicated pages for each approach.
Therapy for the Tri-Cities region and surrounding communities.
Individual therapy
For adults carrying anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, identity questions, relationship patterns, or life transitions.
Couples therapy
For relationships affected by conflict, distance, resentment, betrayal, or repeating patterns.
Child and teen therapy
For young people navigating anxiety, mood changes, school stress, family strain, or identity questions.
Family therapy
For communication patterns, parenting strain, transitions, or stress affecting more than one person.
LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy
For clients who want therapy where identity isn't treated as the problem.
Telehealth therapy
For Tennessee residents when privacy, safety, and fit make online therapy appropriate.
Fees and consultation
The initial consultation is free. Sessions are self-pay and vary by therapist and type of appointment. We don't bill insurance directly. Therapy is provided by associate-licensed therapists under the clinical supervision of Dr. Katherine Barteck.
View feesGetting started
The first step is a free 15-minute consultation. You don't need a diagnosis or a clear explanation before reaching out.
How it worksTherapy for the Tri-Cities region, from our Johnson City office.
The consultation is a conversation. It helps us understand what you're looking for and whether we may be the right place to begin.