Is there a therapist in Tryon, NC?
Yes, though the choice is smaller than in a city. Tryon is a town of 1,562 people, according to the 2020 Census, and Polk County as a whole has fewer than twenty thousand. Most in-person counseling in the county is in Columbus, the county seat, which is about five miles east of Tryon on NC 108.
Laura Bass opened a part-time office at The Healing Cottage in Columbus in 2024. Her main practice is in Charlotte. She works with adults, as individuals and as couples, on relationship difficulties, infidelity and rebuilding trust, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, midlife issues, life transitions, shame, trauma and chronic illness.
If you are comparing options, the guide to therapists in Tryon and Polk County lists the other practices and community clinics we could verify, and choosing a therapist in Tryon covers the questions worth asking any of them.
What can you get help with?
Laura describes her approach as holistic, humanistic and integrative. In her words, working on all levels, mind, body, spirit and energy, can produce changes that are sustainable over the long term. Talk therapy is at the center, and you choose what else, if anything, to include.
- Individual counseling for anxiety, low mood, stress and the strain of a small town where everyone knows everyone. See anxiety and privacy in a small town and individual counseling.
- Couples and marriage counseling for partners stuck in the same argument or growing apart. See couples counseling in Tryon and Polk County.
- Infidelity recovery, for couples deciding what comes next. See infidelity recovery for foothills couples.
- Grief and loss, including the loss of a spouse later in life. See grief counseling in Tryon.
- Life transitions: retirement, a move to the Thermal Belt, caring for a parent. See counseling for retirees and settling into the Thermal Belt.
- Faith-integrated counseling, for people who want their faith to be part of the conversation. See faith and counseling in the foothills.
- Spiritual healing and the Emotion Code, for clients who choose to include them. See the Emotion Code and spiritual healing near Tryon.
Where is the office, and how far is it?
The office is at The Healing Cottage in Columbus. It is part-time, so ask Laura which days she is there when you get in touch. Approximate road distances to Columbus, measured town center to town center, are below; allow a few extra minutes for school traffic or a slow truck on the grade.
- Tryon: about five miles on NC 108, roughly ten minutes.
- Lynn: about three miles. Mill Spring: about four miles.
- Landrum, SC: about eight miles. Saluda: about ten miles, by I-26.
- Sunny View: about ten miles. Green Creek: about twelve miles.
- Gowensville, SC: about thirteen miles. Campobello, SC: about fourteen miles.
- Gramling, SC: about seventeen miles. Inman, SC: about eighteen miles.
- Hendersonville: about twenty miles. Spartanburg: about thirty miles.
Can South Carolina residents see Laura?
Yes. The state line runs between Tryon and Landrum, but many people cross it several times a week for work, church or the grocery store. For therapy, what matters is the state you are physically in during the session, and Laura is licensed in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
If you live in Landrum, Campobello, Inman, Gramling or the Gowensville and Travelers Rest side of Greenville County, seeing a therapist from the South Carolina side covers drive times, insurance and the crisis numbers that apply in South Carolina. The Landrum area page has more about the town itself.
Insurance and getting started
Laura is in network with Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, United Behavioral Health, MedCost, Magellan, Carelon Behavioral Health (formerly Beacon Health Options), CBHA and Medicare. Plans differ, so call the number on your card to confirm your outpatient mental health benefits. Using insurance for therapy in Polk County explains what to ask, and where to turn if you have Medicaid or no insurance.
To start, call 704-706-3264 or use the contact page. A first conversation is a chance to ask whether what you are dealing with is something Laura works with, which days she is in Columbus, and whether video sessions are an option. What to expect at the Healing Cottage walks through a first appointment.
If you need help now
Laura's practice is not set up for emergencies. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. In Polk County, Vaya Health's 24-hour crisis line is 1-800-849-6127 and can send a mobile crisis team; in South Carolina, the state's mobile crisis line is 833-364-2274. The crisis and support resources page lists walk-in centers, grief services, domestic violence lines and support groups on both sides of the line.
Common questions
Does Laura Bass have an office near Tryon?
Yes. Since 2024 she has had a part-time office at The Healing Cottage in Columbus, NC, about five miles from Tryon on NC 108. Her main practice is in Charlotte. Because the Columbus office is part-time, ask which days she is there when you call 704-706-3264 or write through the contact page.
Does Laura see couples for marriage counseling in Polk County?
Yes. Couples counseling and infidelity counseling are central to Laura's work, alongside individual counseling. She works with adults only. If there is violence, threats or controlling behavior in the relationship, couples counseling is not the right starting point; Steps to Hope in Columbus answers its line at 828-894-2340 around the clock.
I live in Landrum, South Carolina. Can I still be a client?
Yes. Laura is licensed in North Carolina and in South Carolina. Therapy is regulated by the state you are in during the session, so that matters more than where her office is. Landrum is about eight miles from Columbus by road, and many people in Landrum already cross into Polk County for work and errands.
Who does Laura work with?
Adults aged 18 and over, as individuals and as couples. People come to her with relationship difficulties, infidelity, anxiety, low mood, grief, midlife questions, retirement and other life transitions, shame, trauma and the strain of chronic illness. If you are unsure whether what you are facing fits, ask in a first call. The guide to therapists in Tryon and Polk County lists other local options too.