OUTPATIENT COUNSELING
Outpatient Counseling at Clay Behavioral Health Center
Our outpatient counseling program works with the client and client family to reduce symptoms that interfere with an individual’s ability to successfully and appropriately engage in everyday functioning that occurs in school, work, parenting, social and family interaction, sleep and daily self-care.
Outpatient treatment is meant to be a partnership with the client and other program services in order to restore a client to previous levels of appropriate functioning or to work with the client to build a framework for more successful functioning by focusing on client-created goals. This model does not aim for “cure” of clients’ problems. Instead, the purpose of the work is to help clients successfully cope with life’s challenges by facilitating recovery and building resilience. There is an emphasis on building on client strengths and on integration into the community. Treatment is rooted in current best practices and evidence-based research with the understanding that mental health disorders are treatable conditions.
Services
There are many different referral sources to the outpatient program. Most of our clients are self-referred. Other outside referral sources are generated from private insurance companies, doctor offices, public health department, Orange Park Hospital, Mental Health Resource Center, the court system and contract sources. Self-referred and other outside, referred clients would be connected to the outpatient program through the Access Department with either a scheduled appointment or through the Open-Access walk-in program Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Each person would be evaluated with a psychosocial and assessed for what service would meet their needs. At that point the clinician would determine what level of treatment was needed and a personalized plan of care would be developed with the client.
In addition to Individual therapy, outpatient offers a variety of group settings to meet the needs of clients. Adult groups that focus on Parenting, Panic, Anxiety, Anger Management, Communication, Handling Difficult Emotions, and Understanding How Your Thoughts Can Impact Your Mood are some of the many groups offered that clients have reported helpful. Some groups that are offered for adolescents include an Adolescent Substance Abuse group, Anger Management group, and a SPARCS group for young people, age 12 to 21, who have experienced trauma or abuse history.
Neighborhood Resource Centers
The Neighborhood Resource and Referral Center in Green Cove Springs provides community referrals to neighborhood residents. The Center has a full-time counselor and also provides meeting space for community groups.