What is community mental health? Community mental health centers offer mental health care to those who would not have access to it otherwise. People of all ages may receive mental health care services at a community mental health center. Anyone who does not have health insurance with mental health benefits can use the community mental health center. People without medical insurance can also use the centers. According to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, community mental health centers have specialized services for serving children; the elderly; patients with serious mental health diseases; and people who have recently been discharged from an inpatient psychiatric hospital, drug treatment program, or mental health program.
What is a Community Mental Health Center?
Types of Professionals Who Work at Community Mental Health Centers
Many different professionals work at community mental health centers and provide community mental health services. Part of the community mental health center definition is the idea of mental health, so many of these professionals will be skilled in the area of mental health. Counselors and therapists offer individual and group counseling to patients.
Licensed clinical social workers fulfill many roles at the community health centers. They may function as care coordinators, resource locators, intake specialists, outreach coordinators, and those who run support groups. Activity coordinators offer workshops and programs during the daytime and evening hours. Social workers and registered nurses offer care coordination with the patient’s medical providers and other community-service programs. The centers also have administrative staff for handling scheduling, billing, payments, and the general operations of the facility.
Here are some common characteristics of each of these professionals, as well as education routes that those who want to provide community mental health services often take.
Counselors
Counselors are known to be empathetic, caring, and knowledgeable. Often, their work involves hearing what the patient has to say, observing the patient, and then talking to them about what the best way to go forwards would be. Onlinecounselingprograms.com lists the five steps to becoming a counselor, once you have earned a bachelor’s degree; earn a master’s degree in counseling, complete a practicum, gain licensure or certification, choose a specific career path, and continue learning while an active counselor.
Most states do require that counselors have a master’s degree and are licensed. Some areas that counselors specialize in are addiction counseling; marriage, couple, and family counseling; career counseling; clinical mental health counseling; rehabilitation counseling; and gerontological counseling. Some also specialize in community mental health counseling.
Clinical social workers
Clinical social workers, according to socialworkers.org, are part of a special field within the area of social work that focuses on the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental or behavioral health issues. They may work with groups, which allows patients to interact with others who might have had similar experiences; it also gives them a chance to work on their social interaction skills, if this is something they struggle with. Clinical social workers may work with individuals in a one-on-one circumstance if that would be better for them, as some people feel more comfortable when they are alone as opposed to in a group. Also, some individuals may not be emotionally or behaviorally ready to interact in a group setting. Another way that clinical social workers help patients is by working with them in a family setting. Since a patient’s family has to interact with them every day, it can be helpful for the clinical social worker to work with the whole family and help them know how to best support the patient.
Activity coordinators
Activity coordinators at community mental health clinics may have a much more broad education or range of interests, since this position does not usually require a license. However, it is important that the activity coordinator has a solid understanding of the illnesses or problems of the patients at the community mental health care center; otherwise, he or she might not understand what activities would be appropriate for them. These activities may take place in a group or individually, and they may be opportunities to teach social or behavioral skills, as well as being enjoyable activities. These may be as simple as arts and crafts or board games; however, the activity coordinator must be a skilled manager and have an understanding of what will be most helpful for the patients at the community mental health center.
Social workers
According to bls.gov, social workers help people deal with difficult situations in their lives. They often help those who are unable to help themselves. This may mean getting involved with legal issues or spending time counseling people. Social workers do not have a typical workday; instead, they meet with their clients whenever their clients have time. They often have to make life-changing decisions for others, and these are often difficult decisions to make. Social workers need to believe strongly in helping others, instead of being in this field for the money they can make, since this is a difficult field. However, for someone who believes strongly in helping others, this can be an incredibly rewarding field, according to this article from kvc.org. Social workers are different from clinical social workers in that clinical social work is a subset of social work in general; being a clinical social worker often requires more education and licensure.
Administrative staff
Usually, to be a part of the administrative staff of a community mental health center, a bachelor’s degree is required. Discoverhealthadmin.org says that the administrative staff at a community mental health center need to be able to understand and diagnose the problems that a patient is going through. The administrative staff needs to be knowledgeable about the various problems, because if they are, they can direct the patient to whichever part of the team will be able to help them most. Members of the administrative staff are usually overseeing a team of all of the professionals listed above – social workers, clinical social workers, counselors, and activity coordinators – as well as others, depending on the situation. The administrative staff may also include those who are less knowledgeable about the patients, but know more about how to run an organization. These people may have certain skills with numbers or an understanding of legal issues.
Community mental health clinics employ a wide range of professionals, and it is by working together that they are able to change lives. What is community mental health? It is mental health treatment that is available to those who would not otherwise be able to obtain it. This means that these professionals must enjoy helping others in order to do their job well.
Community mental health centers offer a wide range of outpatient services to patients. Individual and group therapy sessions are available. These sessions might be themed around a particular topic such as anger management or identifying triggers. Group activities such as arts, crafts, games, or puzzles may be held. These activities help patients develop healthy social skills so that they can communicate with others. Patients can also get their community services streamlined. They may be able to apply for other assistance programs, such as food or housing, during their appointments with the center’s social workers. Workshops with age-appropriate activities are available for children and seniors. For example, children’s workshops at a community mental health center might include playing with puppets or painting with watercolors.
Community mental health centers must adhere to specific federal guidelines for quality of care. They are routinely audited and inspected. The federal money provided to the center does not meet the facility’s entire budget needs. State and local dollars also contribute to the operations of the facility. The patient fees from sliding-scale payments make up the remainder of the community mental health care center’s operational expenses.
According to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, community mental health centers have been through several changes in the past decades; it has been over 50 years since John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Centers Act, and there have been innovations in treatment and organization since then. Similar community mental health care centers have been implemented in Canada, and while the United States has made many innovations, Canada has a more uniform system. Previously, these centers tried to take too broad of an approach. When it was found that it was no longer practical to include prevention of mental health problems, the focus shifted to treatment. Community mental health centers were successful in deinstitutionalizing many people, leaving hospitals and similar institutions with more resources. Two movements took place at the end of the twentieth century. The evidence-based practice movement was concerned with the quality of care being offered. While there were many complex problems facing the mental health community centers, the evidence-based practice movement focused on the importance of high-quality care that could move patients through a program in a short time. The recovery movement was led by patients who felt that those who were caring for them were not taking their wishes into account. They felt that their plans for “recovery” were not being listened to by those who were caring for them. This movement led professionals in community mental health care centers to pay more attention to what their patients want.
Community mental health centers have faced many challenges over the years. One of these is the fact that those with mental illnesses often live in inner-city areas, where there might be problems with unemployment, drugs, crime, and other things. It can be difficult to maintain a community mental health center under these circumstances, as these are not the best circumstances for recovery. Another issue is the reluctance of patients themselves to come for treatment. The patient may have a serious mental illness which makes them unable to realize that they need help. They may feel ashamed of asking for help in the case of victims of difficult circumstances, particularly related to family problems. They may not realize what resources they have access to. Problems like unemployment and criminalization of those with mental illnesses are addressed by community mental health centers, but it can be difficult to help people who don’t ask for help or, if they are offered help, turn it down.
Even once patients come to a community mental health clinic, there are challenges to be faced. The patients may be the victims of abuse or violence; they may be violent themselves; they may lack housing; they may have drug or alcohol issues. These problems can be addressed by professionals at the community mental health center, but it remains a challenging job.
According to the ncbi.nlm.nih.gov article, several lessons have been learned over the course of the past few decades. One of these lessons is that it is important to implement team-based care. This means that there must be a team of experts at work, not just one person. This allows care to continue consistently and keeps it from being dependent on a single person. “Recovery,” or allowing patients a say in their goals and treatment, is another important component. This lets patients have a feeling of indepence as they are treated, and it makes mental health centers more likely to be used by those who might be hesitant to ask for help if they were not given a say in how they were treated for their illness. Another lesson that has been learned is the importance of peer support. It can be life-changing for those who suffer from a mental illness to hear from someone who is going through the same thing. A group of peers who can help each other through difficult times is an important part of a community mental health center.
