Our Daily Show Interview! Centerstone: Outpatient Counseling Services
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ALTON - Centerstone is a national leader in mental health and substance use treatment, and their Alton location offers outpatient therapy services to local community members.
Brittany McCrady, clinical manager at Centerstone, shared more about what outpatient therapy looks like and how it can help Riverbend residents meet their goals. She encouraged people to reach out to Centerstone about counseling if they are struggling, and she emphasized that you don’t have to wait until you reach a crisis point to deserve help.
“You don’t have to wait until it gets to a certain level of toughness,” she said. “If whatever is going on is interfering in your life and has been persistent, or your typical ways of coping aren’t doing it, you don’t have to muscle through it or try to do it on your own. Come in, please, is my urging.”
Centerstone takes Medicaid and private insurance and offers some self-pay options on a sliding scale. They have a “walk-in” option for clients with Medicaid, and their goal is to get all of their first-time clients scheduled with a therapist within ten days of their initial assessment.
The initial assessment can be “boring,” McCrady joked, but necessary. During the assessment process, you will be asked about your history and what brings you into Centerstone. McCrady encourages clients to communicate their needs. You will then be matched with a therapist.
After three kept appointments, the therapist can put in a request for psychiatric services. McCrady emphasized that not everyone wants or needs medication, but if you do, Centerstone is happy to provide psychiatric help.
“It’s not necessarily going to be therapy right away at your very first appointment. It’s also not going to be meeting with a psychiatrist or having medication that very first appointment, either,” McCrady summarized. “Sometimes, when you’re in a rough spot, you really want that help as quickly as possible. So it can be hard to adjust those expectations.”
Centerstone accepts patients as young as 4 years old. McCrady said many of their youngest clients have experienced trauma, struggle with behavioral issues, or exhibit early signs of anxiety or depression. Centerstone offers play therapy and art therapy to these kids, though older clients sometimes “venture into the art room” as well, she added.
As sessions continue, you and your clinician might adjust your goals. Eventually, the aim is to increase the time in between sessions and build support outside of the therapy room.
“As a clinician, if you are dependent on seeing me for the rest of your life, I don’t know that I’m doing my job right because really, my goal is to give you the tools to be able to do some of these things on your own or some of these things outside of the therapy session,” McCrady said. “Oftentimes, that means developing more of those informal supports, so finding other outlets for you and also finding other means of connection.”
Centerstone offers a variety of services, from crisis stabilization to care coordination. Their outpatient counseling services are highly utilized and an important part of what they do. For more information about Centerstone, including how to schedule an appointment, visit their official website at Centerstone.org or call 1-877-HOPE123.
“If you are feeling overwhelmed by whatever is going on, maybe it’s a history of things, maybe it’s something currently going on, that you don’t have to navigate those things related to mental health or substance use by yourself,” McCrady added. “Come in. We can help map out with you what that looks like and help you work towards those goals.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
