Open Paths Counseling Center

Open Paths Counseling Center seeks to remove financial, geographical and cultural barriers to psychotherapy for low-income and historically marginalized communities in Los Angeles by providing culturally-affirming, trauma informed counseling either free or for a low-fee. We provide therapy virtually as well as at partner organizations in underserved communities, and will be returning to in-person services at our new Inglewood-based facility in falll 2021. Addition to providing much needed mental health services to underserved communities, Open Paths Counseling Center also has a highly sought after clinical training program that provides ongoing clinical training and supervision to our re-licensed counseling team. Our training program centers around the needs of BIPOC clients and those who have historically not been centered in the field of psychology.

Open Paths’ staff, comprising both graduate level and pre-grad Marriage and Family Therapist interns and trainees who are earning their 3,000 hours of hands-on experience for licensure are encouraged to facilitate groups. Our clinicians are supervised by a diverse team of experienced licensed therapists who ensure the high quality of services we are known for.

In 2017 Open Paths launched our Therapy Outreach Program (TOP). TOP partners with organizations in underserved communities by providing therapists from these communities to serve a shared clientele. This strategy removes the top three barriers to therapy for members of these communities by providing culturally sensitive therapy, at low or no fee, in communities where therapy is not readily available, by therapists who are culturally similar to the clients in these communities. By continuing to build out our Therapy Outreach Program, we aim to penetrate historically underserved communities by providing therapy in a way that breaks down stigma and barriers.

Open Paths' clinical team has doubled in the past three years and the clientele has grown by a third. We continue to seek out new organizations to partner with.

Since Open Paths launched our Therapy Outreach Program in 2017, we have partnered with multiple organizations in underserved areas to provide therapy to our shared clientele. Organizational partners include:

Social Justice Learning Institute, providing therapy to the youth in Compton and Inglewood
SBWIB YouthBuild, providing therapy to 16 - 24 year olds in Lennox
St. Margaret's Center, providing therapy to people of all ages in Lennox in English and Spanish
Dept. of Mental Health Women's Reentry Program, providing therapy groups to women re-entering after incarceration in South Los Angeles
Mar Vista Family Center, providing therapy to people of all ages in the Mar Vista community of Los Angeles in Spanish and English

Additionally, services at our Culver City location have increased by 200 clients in the past two years. Finally, our operating budget has increased by a third in three years.