A mom with a traumatic past who never trusted a therapist. A couple who were close to divorce. A youth who felt they were to blame for all their trauma and pain.
For Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo, these are the stories of just three patients who have been served by the counseling team at Bridges Mental Health Counseling Services.
The mom has continued therapy for two years to work through trauma and become the mom she has always wanted to be. The couple discovered the cause of their difficulties and developed communication tools to build trust and improve their relationship. The youth learned how to open up and found forgiveness and healing.
Located in the Van Domelen Center in Kalamazoo (which also houses Caring Network), Bridges provides outpatient therapy and support groups for anyone in need, regardless of their age, personal beliefs or ability to pay.
“We do bill insurance but we will never turn someone away who is looking for support simply because they don’t have insurance or they aren’t able to pay,” says Nicole Cody, Supervisor of Clinical Counseling and one of two counselors at Bridges. “We found another barrier for those seeking mental health services was transportation. We’ve partnered with Medicaid to help provide free transportation to us for those who need it.”
The counselors at Bridges are a first step in mental health care — they can help provide individuals with referrals for additional psychiatric help or medication. In addition to individual counseling, they also offer couples counseling and support groups for those struggling with substance abuse as well as for new and expecting mothers.
According to Cody, out-patient therapy includes meeting with a therapist once every week or two to work through the difficulties going on in their life. The focus of therapy is providing coping skills and adding new skills to their “toolbox” so they are better able to remain mentally and emotionally strong during difficult times. Common issues the therapists at Bridges help support include couples counseling, depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, perinatal mood disorders, postpartum depression and anxiety, grief, PTSD and substance abuse.
“I think the benefit of therapy is being able to address issues that are going on in one’s life and being able to talk with someone knowing that they will hold that confidentiality,” says Cody. “They’re objective; a therapist is not going to put their opinions or their beliefs onto the client. They can trust they’re going to work with a therapist to address their issues based on what they think or how they feel and not what the therapist thinks or their therapist’s personally held beliefs.”
Thankfully, Cody says the stigma on receiving mental health support has diminished over the last 10 years. And while expecting and newly postpartum women seem to struggle the most with the stigma of struggling with their mental health, Cody says even that seems to be waning.
“We’re seeing women who are struggling so much, and think to themselves ‘I shouldn’t be struggling because this is supposed to be such a happy time but I’m not feeling joyful.’ People don’t want to get help for fear of people thinking they’re losing their mind when really they’re just looking for tools to help them get through.”
Throughout the pandemic, Cody says Bridges has seen an increase in grief and anxiety. They’ve also seen an increase in pregnant and new moms looking for support with perinatal mood disorders.
Bridges serves around 60 people each month and is usually able to schedule new patients to be seen within one week’s time. During the pandemic, they have been able to offer additional patient options, including phone or teletherapy sessions, as well as in-person sessions with the necessary safety protocols.
Common issues the therapists at Bridges help support include:
Couples counseling• Depression
Anxiety
Bi-polar disorder
Perinatal mood disorders
Postpartum depression and anxiety
Grief
PTSD
Substance abuse
FOR MORE INFORMATION about Bridges Mental Health Counseling or to schedule a session, call 269.381.1234.