In Depth Program Story: Counseling
Tuesday May 22, 2007, Pensacola
If there is one field of health care that the majority of Catholic Charities agencies take part in, it is behavioral health. Long overlooked as an integral part of total health, behavioral health is absolutely vital to the stability and functionality of families and individuals. Disproportionately, low income people—those that Catholic Charities agencies most often serve—are affected by behavioral health problems. This quarter, the Pensacola office of Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida has served 143 clients with a total of 631 clinical hours.
Inevitably, everyone experiences conflict at some time in their lives. This can be a personal conflict or a relationship conflict that can be extremely draining and/or painful. Some of these problems may pass with time while some can be persistent. It is possible that a minor problem can spiral out of control, if the problem is not addressed early.
About Pensacola’s Program: This program helps strengthen families, develop relationships, and prevent small problems from getting out of control. We believe the resulting life changes will not only contribute to an individual life, but will also enable increased participation with the community.
Our service philosophy is to honor the uniqueness of each individual whom requests counseling by providing respectful, confidential, and professional services. Our counselors screen, assess, and treat mental health disorders and problems related to everything from everyday stress to chronic mental health disorders –
Abuse
Co-dependency
Personality Disorders
Stress
Anger Management
Depression
Phobias
Trauma
Anxiety
Grief and Loss
Self-Esteem
We offer individual, marital, and family sessions based on the identified needs. For the clients with the specialized needs (i.e. active domestic violence, addictions, etc), a referral is provided to the local community mental health center or other appropriate agency.
The counseling services accept some insurance coverage for outpatient mental health services. The office offers a generous sliding fee scale (based on family size and household income) in order to provide counseling services for those who would not otherwise be able to afford these services.
Community Outreach: Our program has actively participated in the following community events: Access Behavioral Health Community Fair, Pensacola’s Largest Baby Shower, Brownsville Community Meeting, and the Learn to read luncheon. We are consistently working hard to make our services known to the community so as to help the citizens of our community function at a level of their own satisfaction.
In addition, our program has also participated in many community crises. We are taking every opportunity to provide services to community organizations/churches/schools in order to respond to any crisis they may feel needs to be addressed by professional counselors.
New Directions: Counseling Services is currently looking to meet identified mental health needs in the community. At this point in time, we are working towards an in-network provider status with Access Behavioral Health (Area 1 Prepaid Mental Health plan under contract with Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration) in order to continue our efforts towards comprehensive individualized treatment by collaborating with other agencies. We are also collaborating with other agencies in order to help meet Escambia County’s need for in home counselors for the elderly.