The Center A Place of Hope was founded 30 years ago, by Dr. Gregory Jantz and since then it has been a place of hope for people from all walks of life in Washington and other states around it. Washington, DC is one of the oldest states in America and it has a very diverse community residing there. The Center has changed the lives of many by focusing on the mind, body, and spirit. It has also given people a different and beautiful setting, away from the pressures of home, where one is encouraged to heal, grow and share his/her experiences in a safe, confidential, and supportive environment (The Centre, 2016). The staff has perfected the holistic methods of treatment.
This form of treatment deals with the medical, physical, psychological, emotional, nutritional, fitness, and spiritual aspects. Every individual who visits the organization for treatment receives a dedicated team that guides him or her throughout the healing program. Payment for the treatment has been made easy, affordable, and convenient for everyone wishing to get services from the facility. The organization is affordable with the help of the treatment program that aims at working with the patients to achieve the best possible plan for treatment within their budget.
The charges for seeking treatment at the facility are based on day-to-day expenses, but they include accommodation, transport, evaluation, treatment, and meal costs. The facility works with major insurance providers but also considers those without a medical insurance cover. Therefore, any person wishing to join the facility is eligible to do so. The Center is an organization that closely works with the government and therefore, illegal immigrants would have a hard time accessing its services. The location of this organization is in the State of Washington within the Edmond locality, and a few minutes drive from Seattle. Edmond is an area accessible by public means of transport and therefore anyone wishing to visit the facility can do so freely.
Preventing an illness is much easier and less expensive than managing or treating one after it has begun. Certain conditions such as mental diseases and depression are best detected early and they are easier to contain during their initial stages (NCCC, 2016). Therefore, screening and educating the patients for mental health issues is very important for the organization. Screening tests are used to identify people who are at risk of developing mental conditions as well as other diseases related to the same, to begin treatment. Depression and other related cases happen to be one of the leading reasons why patients come to The Center in search of hope and peace. Depression can degenerate into a chronic condition if it is not attended to in due time. Consequently, the organization strives to educate the community about depression and the available options for treatment. As a way of giving back to the society, the organization has periodic public service announcements, which aim at bringing the organization’s stakeholders and the community together as well as providing health services.
The organization has come up with ways to educate the community about issues to do with mental health and depression. One of the ways The Center has done this is by initiating educational and community-based programs in the society. For “a community to improve its health, its members must often change aspects of the physical, social, organizational, and even political environments to eliminate or reduce the factors that contribute to health problems or to introduce new elements that promote better health” (Vera & Speight, 2013). Also, the organization has outreach programs that target the general public and improve publicity in the process.
In the facility, counseling is one of the most important aspects of treatment because the organization has a diverse client list. Therefore, to pursue all the relevant treatment regimens, the facility has professional counselors for all patients. Professional caregivers are conversant with the need for understanding the cultural background of a client in regards to his/her race, ethnicity, gender, and religious affiliations. Therefore, the starting point of dealing with any client who enters the rehabilitation facility is to know his/her background. Clients will often approach the counselor differently and following their cultural norms and beliefs. Furthermore, it is within the counselor’s repertoire to understand that the issues of culture are sensitive. Therefore, the only establishment of trust can compensate for this initial cultural disconnect. The entire counseling staff at the facility embodies diversity in anticipation of the ever-increasing culturally diverse clientele. Dealing with individuals “from other cultures requires a delicate balance but the ultimate goal in such situations is to ensure that the cultural differences are acknowledged” (Richard, 2016).
Counseling Services at the facility are offered in various forms including group-counseling sessions and couples-sessions. The rationale behind this mode of operation is that clients’ recovery depends on a vast system of social support. The main goal throughout the counseling session is to acknowledge cultural diversity in a subtle but effective manner. Also, it would be detrimental for the counselor to undermine the beliefs of the client in the guise of offering help to the customer. At The Center, cultural competency is pursued and achieved by the staff’s expression of interest and accommodation of diverse worldviews. Furthermore, staff members are careful not to undermine other belief-systems and modes of solving problems. Practitioners are also encouraged to learn how to address a client’s unique realities in a bid to foster cultural diversity. The importance of experience also features highly within the organization as staff members recognize that they have to keep learning when it comes to cultural knowledge. The professionals who work within the field of counseling acknowledge that most of their learning occurs in the course of practicing (Vera & Speight, 2013).
For “more than 30 years, the organization has worked with psychologists, psychiatrists, primary care providers, registered dietitians, primary therapists, marriage counselors, and court officers to provide additional, intensive care for their existing clientele” (The Centre, 2016). The team of professionals at the facility also includes nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, and dieticians among others. This staffing technique is in itself a ploy to make it possible for the organization to care for a diverse clientele. The organization relies heavily on referrals that come through other professionals who have collaborated with the facility. For instance, one patient can go through a series of professionals within the facility and even in other remote areas. Currently, the organization strives to treat all possible conditions with a bid to providing complete recovery to those who visit the establishment. When this goal is achieved, there will be no need for patients to combine the services of different organizations.
The Center has continued to advocate for the inclusion policy, whereby all the diverse populations seeking mental health services are welcomed and treated in the facility. The element of recovery is closely tied with the need to re-introduce patients to society as functional human beings. The accomplishment of this goal is in line with The Center’s belief that the objective of its services is to allow individuals and their loved ones to live a free and purposeful life. Furthermore, administrators have always maintained that mental health issues should not prevent individuals from functioning independently. The organization’s policies are also aligned with those of the national government. Consequently, the organization “fights to ensure access to treatment, improve the quality of treatment, reduce incarceration, and discrimination, and ultimately a better system where people are treated with dignity and early intervention and prevention of mental health problems is prioritized” (Mental Health America, 2016).
The public policies, which the organization aims at, include improving mental health services for the diverse population. Consequently, the establishment is continuing to provide the best possible services as more and more people gain access to treatment and support. Regardless of the point at which an individual begins receiving services, the organization is working towards promoting systems that create the best possible outcomes for each person. The Center (A place of Hope) upholds the fact that recovery is possible for all people. With the right combination of support and services, people living with mental health conditions can and do live full satisfying lives whilst contributing to their communities (Mental Health America, 2016).
The basic principles of social justice are aimed at producing conditions that allow for equal access and opportunity. They also reduce or eliminate disparities in education health care employment and another area that lower the quality of life for affected populations (Constantine, Hage, & Bryant, 2007). Social justice encourages mental health professionals to consider all levels in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients. The principles also broaden the role of the helping-professional to include more services other than counseling and therapy. Mental health agencies demonstrate cultural competence by encouraging multiculturalism and their understanding by mental health professionals. Cultural competence may also be used in changing organizational policies, practices procedures, and structures within institutions but it also requires a different set of knowledge and skills that are more action-oriented.
The Center has “the ability to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs, and behavior, including tailoring delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs” (Campinha-Bacote, 2012). The organization also has a comprehensive and coordinated plan that includes interventions on various levels including policymaking, infrastructure building, program administration and evaluation, the delivery of services and enabling supports, and the individual.
The organization appears to manifest cultural competence in the diverse community it is based in and therefore highly placed in the cultural competence continuum. If employed in the organization, the main goal would be to ensure harmony between policy-making, administrative, and practice to ensure that all aspects of cultural competency are reflected in the organization. Establishing more ways to reach the communities beyond the organization’s environment would be one of the main priorities, including opening up other branches in different areas of the country. These expansion efforts would increase cultural exposure and diversification. The other strategy would be to intensify training in ways that improve staff skills (NCCC, 2016). Within the counseling profession, it would be of great importance for people to understand the value of understanding, respecting, and appreciating other cultures.
References
Campinha-Bacote, J. (2012). The process of cultural competence in the delivery of healthcare services: A model of care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 13(3), 181-184.
Constantine, M. G., Hage, S. M., Kindaichi, M. M., & Bryant, R. M. (2007). Social justice and multicultural issues: Implications for the practice and training of counselors and counseling psychologists. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(1), 24-29.
Mental Health America. (2016). Policy Issues. Web.
NCCC. (2016). Definitions of cultural competence. Curricula Enhancement Module Series. Web.
Richard. K. (2016). Phone Interview.
The Centre. (2016). The Center: A place of hope in Edmonds, WA. Web.
Vera, E. M., & Speight, S. L. (2013). Multicultural competence, social justice, and counseling psychology: Expanding our roles. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(3), 253-272.