Family Counseling Center celebrates 30 years

~ The center opened as a drug and alcohol outpatient facility in 1976 in Kennett, Mo.

A counseling center that opened 30 years ago in a tiny Sunday school room in a church in Kennett, Mo., has expanded its services to five locations in Southeast Missouri.

On Thursday, the Family Counseling Center will celebrate its anniversary at each location, including a new center in West Plains, Mo.

The celebration at the Cape Girardeau location, 20 S. Sprigg St., will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday. State Rep. Nathan Cooper and Family Counseling Center chief executive officer Myra Callahan of Kennett will speak. The facility will remain open to the public until 3 p.m. for tours and refreshments.

In 1976, Family Counseling Center opened as a small alcohol and drug outpatient facility in Kennett. The organization has grown to serve more than 6,000 clients annually in 31 Southeast Missouri counties.

The center in Cape Girardeau offers drug and alcohol counseling for women and adolescents both on an outpatient basis and both 30-day and extended residential treatment. Women come from as far away as Springfield and St. Louis for treatment.

"We're one of only two facilities in Missouri where women can bring their children while they're getting treatment if they need to," said Dana Branson, a licensed social worker at Family Counseling Center. "One of the biggest barriers for women is 'what do I do with my children?'"

According to clinical supervisor Jim Ray, the Cape Girardeau Family Counseling Center was selected as a site in Missouri to begin working next year with disorders that occur simultaneously -- offering psychiatric help along with drug and alcohol counseling from one location.

The women, who are at the center for 30 days, are too often released from treatment before they can be referred to a psychiatrist, Branson said. She said this is because there aren't enough local psychiatrists available.

It's best for the clients when they can get all the help they need in one location instead of being referred to several separate agencies, Branson said.

The Cape Girardeau Family Counseling Center can accommodate a maximum of 30 residential clients, and the rooms are always full, Ray said.

The center is funded through the Missouri Department of Mental Health, United Way and other grants. Patients are referred from the legal system, state agencies and recovered clients. Ray said he invited some of Family Counseling Center's former clients and looks forward to seeing as many of them who can attend -- they're proof of the center's success.

"It's a tough job," Ray said. "We've helped a lot of girls with treatment in a loving 12-step environment."

Family Counseling Center's mission since it began has been to provide clients with quality behavioral health care services in a confidential, caring and respectful manner, without regard for a person's ability to pay. The center emphasizes individualized assessment, quality treatment and access to all levels of care.

Twenty-six professional and support staff and eight volunteers work at the Cape Girardeau facility. Among the volunteers, who undergo the same background scrutiny and training as paid staff members, are nurses, teachers and faculty from Southeast Missouri State University.

"We're thoroughly blessed here with a really hard-working staff," Ray said. "It's all about the client -- the staff is not bound by 40-hour weeks."

The center is recognized as a leader in providing a full array of behavioral services that include case management, physician service, medication management, housing service, 24-hour crisis intervention and prevention/education programs.

Other Family Counseling Center sites celebrating are at Kennett, Caruthersville, Hayti and Poplar Bluff.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160