Do you accept insurance?

Yes. I accept a wide range of plans, including Aetna, Ambetter, Blue Cross and Blue Shield (including Federal Blue Cross and Anthem), Centene, CHAMPVA, Cigna/Evernorth, Health Advantage, HealthChoice, Lucet, Medicare, MultiPlan/PHCS, New Directions, Optum, QualChoice, and United Healthcare/UMR. For Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions, I accept Mutual of Omaha and United/Optum EAP only. I am not able to take other EAPs, including Cigna EAP. If you have Cigna, I can likely still see you through your regular Cigna insurance. If your plan isn't listed here, reach out and I can check, and sliding scale may be available for out-of-network or self-pay clients.

What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)?

ART is a short-term, evidence-based therapy developed by an EMDR-trained therapist. It combines eye movements and imagery with elements of CBT, Gestalt therapy, and brief psychodynamic therapy, and it can help process trauma, often in just a few sessions, without requiring you to relive every painful detail.

Who do you work with?

I work with adults from all backgrounds dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, life transitions, and more. As a cisgender gay man, I have a particular passion for working with queer and gender-diverse clients, veterans, and older adults, but my practice is open to anyone looking for a trauma-informed, non-judgmental space. All identities and backgrounds are welcome here.

What states do you serve?

I offer telehealth therapy across Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. All sessions are virtual, so you can meet with me from home, your car, or anywhere private with a connection.

Do you offer a free consultation?

Yes. I offer a free 15-minute consultation so we can figure out if we are a good fit before getting started.

What is your approach to nontraditional relationships and lifestyles?

I take a sex-positive, non-judgmental approach to all clients, including those who are kink-identified, polyamorous, or otherwise practicing nontraditional relationship structures. Consensual lifestyle choices that are not causing harm are not mine to question.

Do you work with veterans?

Yes. I am a Certified STAR Provider, trained specifically to support military personnel and veterans, in addition to my general adult caseload.

How do I get started?

Reach out by phone, email, or the contact form on this site. Let me know briefly why you are seeking therapy, your availability, and your insurance plan if applicable, and I will follow up to schedule.

Trauma Therapy for Gay Men in Missouri

Missouri puts its two largest cities at opposite corners of the state and leaves a few hundred miles of small towns in between. If you are in Kansas City or St. Louis you have options. If you are in the Ozarks, or anywhere along the stretch between them, finding a therapist who is both affirming and taking new clients becomes a different kind of search. I am Devon Davasher, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a gay man, and I see gay and queer men throughout Missouri by telehealth. My focus is trauma, and I primarily use Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), which can help you process trauma and lighten its effects, often in just a few sessions, without having to relive every painful detail. I also offer telehealth therapy in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Online therapy from Kansas City to the Ozarks

Being licensed across Missouri means I can work with you in Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia, Independence, Joplin, Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau, or a town too small to appear on most lists. There is no drive, so distance stops deciding whether you get consistent care. That matters more than it sounds. A therapist ninety minutes away is a therapist you cancel on in bad weather or during a busy month.

In a smaller Missouri town, therapy is not automatically private. The parking lot is visible and the receptionist went to your high school. With telehealth the session happens wherever you decide, so there is no building to be seen entering.

What brings gay men to therapy

The reasons vary and all of them are legitimate here. Anxiety and depression, including the steady drain of minority stress. Trauma, recent or long past. The complicated aftermath of coming out, or the weight of still being careful about who knows. Relationships of every configuration, including dating, monogamy, open relationships, and polyamory. Grief. Shame that stuck around long after the situation that produced it ended. Substance use, including harm reduction when abstinence is not your goal. Sex and intimacy. Questions about identity that arrive at any age.

None of it will need a preface. You may have sat with a provider who treated your identity as the problem, or one who meant well but was out of their depth, and spent half the session explaining your own life. That is not therapy, it is unpaid work.

I am a cisgender gay man with 13 years of clinical experience, credentialed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Case Manager, and Certified Financial Social Worker. I have my own history with anxiety, depression, and unhealthy coping, which is a large part of why I do this work.

Trauma care with Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

ART was developed by an EMDR-trained therapist and uses guided eye movements to change how a distressing memory is held. For a lot of men that means getting relief without saying the story out loud, which is often the exact reason trauma work got postponed for years. Alongside ART I draw on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and cognitive approaches, depending on what fits. I am direct when it is useful, I use humor when it helps, and I do not believe therapy has to be solemn to work.

Missouri is also home to Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base. I am a certified STAR Behavioral Health Provider, trained specifically to support service members, veterans, and their families.

I accept Ambetter, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Medicare, UnitedHealthcare/UMR, and QualChoice among others, and a sliding scale may be available.

Starting therapy in Missouri

Starting therapy does not have to be complicated.

Step 1: Request a free consultation. Reach me by phone, email, or the contact form for a free 15-minute conversation. If my schedule is full when you write, join my waitlist and I will be in touch as soon as something opens.

Step 2: Send a short summary. What is bringing you in, the times you tend to be free, and your insurance if you plan to use it.

Step 3: We check the fit together. Scheduling, payment, and whether my approach suits you. If it does not, I would rather help you find the right person.

Step 4: Meet from anywhere in Missouri where you have privacy and a steady connection.

Devon Davasher, LCSW is a gay male therapist providing LGBTQIA+ affirming telehealth therapy, including trauma-focused ART, to adults across Missouri.