The Center for Integrative Counseling and Psychology

A mental health leader since 1968, The Center provides counseling where people live, work, play, and pray. Making mental health care accessible is at the core of our mission. We strive to remove barriers of geography, transportation, language, social stigmas, and finances so all people can access transformational care. Our vision is that through accessible counseling, assessments, and training, people across communities can be self-aware, mindful, and resilient to reach potential of who they were created to be – to be healthy and whole.

Goals include: to provide accessible, high-quality counseling, training, psychological evaluations, and educational testing to equip people to grow through life’s changes and challenges. The Center addresses the whole person: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, honoring all faiths and the role faith plays in people’s lives. Another goal is to increase mental health care equity and access. While most counseling centers do not accept private insurance, The Center has invested in back office insurance staff to make sure clients can use their private insurance for care along with Medicare and Medicaid. Mental health care equity requires advocacy and education and use of private insurance. For families living in poverty and underserved communities, we go into their communities and provide counseling and assessments, advocating for them and working alongside area nonprofits and their schools. We're currently at 11 nonprofit locations in West Dallas, Pleasant Grove and Rockwall communities through our innovative PACT program (Partnership for Accessible Counseling and Training). Our goal is that poor children and families struggling with trauma, depression and anxiety have access to excellent and trustworthy counseling services.

Our work intersects every major part of our lives - education, work, faith, and physical health. We collaborate with all sectors of society - churches/faith communities, health care systems, businesses, schools from pre-k to universities, community nonprofits, and the legal system. WE are committed to building communities that nurture mental health and well-being and span 6 counties with 30+ locations including a network offices in churches, physician offices and nonprofits.

In 2019, we provided 26,000+ client sessions, served 3,500+ children, teens and adults with counseling and assessments, and led workshops and mental health education to more than 7,000 individuals. Our staff of 50 includes 40+ experienced mental health professionals who are bilingual and multilingual.

As a trusted partner, collaboration is the key. Our innovative PACT program (Partnership for Accessible Counseling and Training) which The Center initiated has grown from one community partner to 11 different locations in North Texas. We have created a model that can be duplicated with success at multiple sites. By strategizing and providing services and training for groups who advocate for mental health care accessibility, we open the conversation and work to remove the stigma of mental illness.

Our PACT program nonprofits include: Brother Bill's Helping Hands; Buckner Family Hope Centers at Wynnewood, Bachman Lake and West Dallas; Incarnation House; North Dallas Shared Ministries; The Salvation Army's Pleasant Grove Corp Community Center, Trinity River Mission, Wesley Rankin Community Center; West Dallas Community School. We provide counseling for children and families 5 days a week at several of these nonprofits.

Our community collaborators we work closely with include: Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute; Texas Health Resources Well Together Project; UT Southwestern Medical Center Vital Signs 6; The Center for BrainHealth; School Districts including Dallas ISD and Highland Park ISD; SMU's School Zone of the Budd Center; The Grant Halliburton Foundation; Mental Health America

The work is hard and coordination of care is complex and challenging with our PACT program but we have been successful in recruiting high-quality, compassionate therapists who are bilingual and have a heart for serving these families. Families living in poverty and minorities face multiple barriers to receiving counseling such as language, geography, transportation, lack of financial resources, and social stigma. It’s a vicious cycle because mental illness prevents families from stability and ending the cycle of poverty and children from reaching their potential. Children are disproportionately affected by poverty, making up 33% of people in poverty. Research indicates that, compared with children of higher socioeconomic status (SES), children of low SES experience higher rates of parent-reported mental health problems and higher unmet mental health needs. Children are provided with Play Therapy, Trauma Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, general counseling for social stressors, grief, school issues, and assessments. PACT supports school readiness and academic success. The program helps children be more prepared for school and equipped for learning and helps parents and caregivers serve as strong advocates for children.

We are changing these communities and seeing the generational impact. Funding allows The Center to strengthen the work of our PACT partners and continue this life-saving work and further our mission.

Our staff includes Licensed Psychologists, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists includes therapists who are bilingual or multilingual. (including Spanish Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, and Malayalam. We offer specialized services including: Play Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma, Social Skills Groups, and Assessments for ADHD, Autism, and school-related issues. Many of our staff have had formal theological education in addition to their training in psychology and counseling. The Center's educational programming provides psychoeducation in the community covering topics such as parenting, marriage enrichment, stress management, and caring for aging parents.

Our work intersects every major part of our lives - education, work, faith, and physical health. We collaborate with all sectors of society - churches/faith communities, health care systems, businesses, schools from pre-k to universities, community nonprofits, and the legal system. WE are committed to building communities that nurture mental health and well-being and span 6 counties with 30+ locations including a network of offices in churches, physician offices and nonprofits.

In addition to the clinical expertise, staff leadership and board among the best, brightest and committed in their field. We bring 50+ years of expertise as a leader in mental health care in North and Central Texas.

The Center has been a cornerstone of mental health care, hope and well-being since 1968. Our expert and compassionate clinicians are on the front lines of healing the hurt and changing the mental health care landscape.

In 2019, we provided 26,000+ client sessions, served 3,500+ children, teens and adults with counseling and assessments, and led workshops and mental health education to more than 7,000 individuals. Our staff of 50 includes 40+ experienced mental health professionals are bilingual and multilingual. Our PACT program is successful and growing because the need is real.

Since our beginning days, we have offered a residency program to train the next generation of therapists and address the shortage of trained professionals and workforce. We work with graduate programs at SMU, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas University, and others.

From Trinity River Mission PACT partner
“As a nonprofit, we’re under-resourced, under-staffed and under-supplied,” shared Jazmine Lewis, Chief Programs & Operations Director for Trinity River Mission. “Having professionals who are trained in counseling – an area we don’t have expertise in – is huge. They catch things we wouldn’t catch. We wish we could increase our hours with The Center. Our families need it and our staff needs it. Just their presence in our offices has changed the way our staff think about certain situations, how we address them and how we process."

Underserved communities who have had little access to mental health care which is crucial to well-being, security and stability are receiving this life-saving care. Teens living in poor communities who are suicidal now have someone to talk to and the care they need. Single moms who are struggling with postpartum depression can understand they are not alone. Parents who can't speak English and don't know how to advocate for their child with autism can get help and learn how to navigate the schools. We provide testing and assessments for an accurate diagnosis and game plan. Allowing all individuals access to mental health is health equity. By co-locating within these nonprofits, we work alongside their teams removing the stigma and uncertainty of counseling. The life-saving funding supports these partnerships and provides safe and welcoming counseling offices where The Center counselors are trusted and known by those already coming for services such as medical services, food and clothing distribution, after school and summer academic support, and job training.

What's next? The Center has kicked off its "Cornerstone 2020: A Time to Build capital campaign." We have purchased a new home near our existing home and have an extraordinary opportunity to renovate a new therapeutic Central Office for today and the next 50 years. This new home will be the most important step we will take toward advancing mental health care in 2020 and beyond - giving all people access. www.thecentercounseling.org