The grand opening of the Family Care Center in Pflugerville on Sept. 26 should mean greater access to mental health services for families.

The big picture

Texas ranks last when it comes to mental health care access, according to Mental Health America, a national nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of mental health.

When considering both youth and adult populations, Texas also exhibits a higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rate of access to care.

Family Care Center is working to address this by increasing access to Texans, Clinic Director Dr. Alexander Kaplan said.


“We are a one-stop shop for the whole family,” Kaplan said.

The company is unique in its approach to care, providing psychiatric therapy, and prescribed and alternative care methods within the same clinic location.

“As we're hiring a lot of people, we have [appointment] openings. So, a lot of people we see within a day or two days. I know at least for psychiatric care, that's unheard of,” Kaplan said. “So here they might see me for TMS and [prescription] management, and I'm down the hall from the therapists. We are all talking, helping each other out, and there's something to be said for that communication.”

The clinic also provides a specialty treatment option called TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation. TMS is a nonprescription and noninvasive treatment using a machine to emit light taps on the head to stimulate the brain, training the muscle to eventually function on its own. It can be used to treat major depressive disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as help with smoking cessation.


The inspiration

Initially servicing members of the military and their families, Family Care Center has expanded its patient population as shortages in mental health care providers persist.

“It was really evident that we had to expand to the rest of the community, and we had to do our part because there's such a paucity of both the providers out there,” founder Dr. Chuck Weber said. “I think that it really goes to what our mission is to make that community impact.”

According to a recent study, Texas has the fifth-lowest number of mental health treatment centers in the nation. Additionally, 75% of youth with major depression do not receive mental health treatment.


The Texas Department of Health Services reported 251 of 254 counties in Texas have a shortage of mental health care professionals as of August.



Learn more

Family Care Center also opened in Round Rock earlier this year, with plans in the works to open a total of four locations in the Austin metro by the end of 2023.


The clinic provides the following services:
  • Individual counseling
  • Couples and marriage counseling
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation
  • Family counseling
  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
  • Child play therapy
  • Dialectical behavioral therapy
  • Low energy neurofeedback system
For more information regarding services offered, visit www.fccwellbeing.com.