Beha­vio­ral Health Program

The Beha­vio­ral Health Pro­gram focu­ses on the assess­ment of men­tal health needs, the pro­vi­sion of coun­se­ling the­rapy, psychia­tric ser­vi­ces, case mana­ge­ment resour­ces, and edu­ca­tio­nal ses­sions.  Volun­teer the­ra­pists, psychia­trists, social wor­kers and interns work in close con­sul­ta­tion with pro­vi­ders from all of Shepherd’s Cli­nic pro­grams to address the men­tal health needs for the com­prehen­sive care of clients. Nick Arbon, MSW is the program’s Coordinator.

We currently have three the­ra­pists and one psychia­trist pro­vi­ding men­tal health care, in addi­tion to two social work interns. In FY09, the pro­gram expe­rien­ced a 62% inc­rease in men­tal health ser­vi­ces over FY08. Shepherd’s Cli­nic patients see­king men­tal health ser­vi­ces are asked to make a sug­ges­ted dona­tion of $9 for psychophar­ma­co­lo­gi­cal care and $3 for each psychothe­rapy session…basically, one hour’s wage for a month of weekly sessions. Case mana­ge­ment ser­vi­ces are pro­vi­ded at no cost.

What Is Men­tal Health Care?

• Men­tal health care is inter­per­so­nal treat­ment for pro­blems in living.
• It invol­ves tal­king with a trai­ned pro­fes­sio­nal about con­di­tions ran­ging from depres­sion and anxiety to rela­tionship con­flicts and career frustrations.
• Men­tal health care pro­vi­des ways to express fee­lings, unders­tand pat­terns of thin­king, gain pers­pec­tive on past events and current rela­tionships, set goals, and cla­rify dreams for the future.
• Men­tal health care can both alle­viate pain and suf­fe­ring and add mea­ning and rich­ness to life.
• Trai­ned pro­fes­sio­nals employ a range of tech­ni­ques and methods, some sui­ted to par­ti­cu­lar men­tal health issues and some that can be applied to clients dea­ling with a variety of issues.
• All trai­ned pro­fes­sio­nals seek to inc­rease their clients’ men­tal health and to act as a con­fi­den­tial and care­ful listener.

The Pro­fes­sio­nals at Shepherd’s Clinic

The men­tal health world is popu­la­ted with many types of pro­fes­sio­nals, each with dif­fe­rent trai­ning, dif­fe­rent qua­li­fi­ca­tions, and a dif­fe­rent approach. Good the­rapy is most often the result of a great client-therapist con­nec­tion. The follo­wing pro­fes­sio­nals offer clients their exper­tise in the Beha­vio­ral Health Program.

Psychia­trist

Psychia­trists are medi­cal doc­tors who, after com­ple­ting medi­cal school, receive an addi­tio­nal four years of spe­cia­li­zed mental-health trai­ning. Psychia­trists treat the full range of emo­tio­nal and men­tal disor­ders, and are licen­sed to presc­ribe medi­ca­tion. Psychia­trists some­ti­mes use psycho­tro­pic medi­ca­tion in con­junc­tion with the­rapy to treat patients.

Counselor/Therapist/Psychologist

Licen­sed the­ra­pists have a master’s or a doc­to­ral degree in coun­se­ling or a rela­ted area and com­plete two years of super­vi­sed prac­tice. They are licen­sed as inde­pen­dent pro­vi­ders of men­tal health ser­vi­ces, inc­lu­ding the diag­no­sis and treat­ment of men­tal and emo­tio­nal issues, and use a variety of the­ra­peu­tic techniques.

Cli­ni­cal Social Work/Therapist

Cli­ni­cal social wor­kers com­monly hold a master’s degree in social work (or the equi­va­lent) and have com­ple­ted two years of super­vi­sed prac­tice to obtain a cli­ni­cal license. They may use a variety of the­ra­peu­tic tech­ni­ques, inc­lu­ding psychody­na­mic the­rapy or cognitive-behavioral the­rapy. Non-clinical social workers

Pre-Licensed Pro­fes­sio­nal

A pre-licensed pro­fes­sio­nal is in the pro­cess of mee­ting the requi­re­ments to become a licen­sed prac­ti­tio­ner. They may be interns, trai­nees, stu­dents, or resi­dents, and may treat patients under the super­vi­sion and gui­dance of licensed

(Source of Defi­ni­tions: Psycho­logy Today)