The Office

Refuge strives to ensure the comfort of all its guests and clients. 

We do our best to limit any experience of stigma or discrimination based on weight, physical ability, illness, or other personal situations.

You will find a welcoming, peaceful environment meant to provide a sense of safety and comfort. 

This includes soft lighting and music, comfortable, sturdy furniture, a weighted lap pad and therapy bear, heating pad and ice pack, fidgets and stress toys, a water cooler, and a beverage/snack bar with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, Crystal Light and electrolyte flavor packets, fruit snacks, and granola bars. You are welcome to bring a blanket, snack, or other comfort items to use during your session. 

The office is fragrance-free - please refrain from using colognes, perfumes, scented lotions, body sprays, essential oils, and other strong smells prior to appointments and while at the office!

The waiting area features accessibility, soft lighting, comfy, sturdy furniture, peaceful music, and coloring books, play-doh, and therapy magazines. The color scheme of Refuge Counseling is cobalt blue, forest green, and macadamia with splashes of gold and white. In the waiting area there is a brown loveseat, a teal soft chair, a grey armchair, and two navy blue dining style chairs positioned on a dark blue fluffy rug with small side tables, a few lamps, and a small artificial fern. The paintings throughout the office are of trees, forests, and simple abstract art in the Refuge color scheme.
We have extra comfy, high-quality furniture selected with people of all kinds in mind. These chairs swivel and rock and have adjustable back cushions! They are cream-colored square chairs with overstuffed cushions and high arm rests. They sit across from the couch in the counseling room and have a small gold table between them. There is a painting of trees on the edge of a lake above them and a floor lamp behind the chair on the right.
The counseling room promotes comfort, accessibility, and safety for people of all needs, sizes, and abilities. Lots of comfort items and fidgets, too! The color scheme, decor, and lighting match the waiting area. There is a grey couch against the wall with dark blue throw pillows, a gold throw blanket, and some stuffed animals. In front of the couch is a small coffee table with a basket of fidgets on one end and a box of Kleenex on the other. To the left of the couch is a small dining table with chairs. There are floor lamps on either end of the couch. There is an area rug with large flowers in teal, grey, dark blue, and gold.
The beverage and snack bar is a waist-high counter-top featuring a mini Keurig coffee maker, a K-Cup display, a tray with jars holding sweetener packets, a bottle of honey, stir sticks, cup lids, and creamer singles. A stack of hot cups sits next to the Keurig. On the left side of the counter is a display holding cold cups, lids, and straws on the top, and fruit snacks and granola bars on the bottom. In front of that are containers holding electrolyte and Crystal Light drink packets. To the left of the cabinet is a water cooler. To the right is a waist-high trash can. Everyone is welcome to grab a hot or cold drink, some fruit snacks, a granola bar, or all of the above! Or you can bring your own snacks.
Our office is intentionally trauma-informed, fragrance-free and maintains a strong illness policy in the best interest of our chronically ill clients. There are two signs hanging on a glass door with white blinds behind. The sign on the left states Do Not Enter If You Have with a list of symptoms indicated in the illness policy. The sign on the right has large letters in the center stating Fragrance Free with a paragraph underneath explaining the policy.
The coffee table in the waiting area has coloring books, crayons, therapy magazines, and small bowls of mints and Dove chocolates for you to enjoy while you wait.
A basket of fidgets sits on the coffee table in the counseling room. There are many different types of fidgets in the basket including a pop-it, play-doh, fidget cube, stress balls, putty, smooth rocks, and more.

Because clients at Refuge seek specialized care for eating disorders, chronic illness, and trauma, we have been intentional with the office furnishings.