ABOUT THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY COUNSELING

The Center is a non-profit mental health organization that for more than three decades has been a resource for low-income and uninsured adults in Lane County who are in need of mental health services but have no other means of receiving assistance.

Services are offered on a sliding scale based on income.  Some 100 professional volunteers donate nearly 4,000 hours of counseling to clients during an average year.

Among offerings of the CCC are anger management classes, workshops and training on parenting skills, group sessions and classes on managing emotions, short- and long-term counseling for individual adults, and information on and referral to additional mental health and parenting resources.

The typical person receiving services at the Center is a single parent supporting two children who is unemployed or underemployed, has an average income of less than $600 per month, and reports having themselves been abused as a child (97 percent of clients).

  • I am so appreciative for the support I received to get through a very dark and difficult period in my life.  When I had few useful places to turn, the Center for Community Counseling was there for me.
    -- CCC Client
  • I made a lot of big changes for the better; moving, a new job, and building more supportive communities.
    -- CCC Client
  • Today, I smile more.  I hold my tongue.  I listen more.  I have confidence in myself again.  Today I am a better man.
    -- CCC Client
  • I had a counselor who understood what I was going through. I owe her my life.
    -- CCC Client 

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MAY IS NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH MONTH
Story By CCC in The Register-Guard

"LEGALLY BLONDE" - SATURDAY, MAY 19

CENTER OFFERS ANGER AND PARENTING WORKSHOPS

CCC SEEKING GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN

BRIGHTER HORIZONS ALLIANCE IS NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM FOR BUSINESSES


MAY IS NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

The Register-Guard - May 1, 2012

GUEST VIEWPOINT: Misconceptions still surround mental health

By Steve Guerber and Melissa Thomas

The month of May was first declared National Mental Health Month in 1949. Yet more than six decades later, behavioral health concerns carry a widespread stigma despite being an illness suffered at one time or another by one out of four people.

It’s hard to fight negative impressions of such problems when misconceptions and misperceptions persist about people with acute sadness, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or some other mental disorder.

In a community that has experienced more than its share of suicides, accidental deaths, economic hardship and cases of abusive behavior lately, there have been plenty of opportunities for people to experience mental health challenges. And it’s important to understand that mental health conditions can be as distressing and debilitating as any major physical health disorder.

Instead of receiving compassion and acceptance, however, those with mental health issues may experience discrimination and a fear of being singled out. This sense of isolation is often a barrier to action for people who are thinking about seeking help when they need it.

But that’s just one reason why people living with a mental health condition never seek or receive help. Others may include lack of information, lack of health care insurance coverage, and lack of income.

Fortunately, Lane County has an extensive system of assistance available to those in need of mental health counseling, no matter what their circumstances. Professionals with expertise in all areas of need are readily available to provide mental health counseling.

As a nonprofit safety net agency that has existed for more than 33 years, the Center for Community Counseling offers such services to low-income adult clients with no insurance and nowhere else to go for help. If the CCC isn’t the appropriate provider of counseling, it can refer those in need of assistance to other organizations such as White Bird Clinic, Direction Services, the Center for Family Development, Sexual Assault Support Service, Center for Family Therapy, Options Counseling, Looking Glass, Volunteers in Medicine, Northwest Christian University, the University of Oregon Health Center and Lane County Mental Health.

If you are reading this guest viewpoint and suspect you or someone you know has a mental health issue, don’t be reluctant to tell someone about it. Have the courage to confide in a spouse, family members, friends, clergy or other members of the community. Reach out to people for needed compassion, support and understanding.

Don’t avoid seeking help because of a reluctance to admit having a condition that needs treatment, or because of the fear of being “labeled.” Get treatment. It can provide relief by identifying what is wrong in concrete terms and by reducing symptoms that interfere with work and personal life.

Many have the mistaken belief that their condition is a sign of personal weakness, or that they should be able to control it without help. Seeking professional counseling, getting educated about a condition, and connecting with others with mental health issues can help those in need gain self-esteem and overcome destructive behavior.

Above all, being able to live in a community that is open to increased awareness of the importance of dealing with mental health needs by acknowledging their existence is an important step in breaking down stereotypes that prevent accessibility to services for all with such conditions.

Since May is National Mental Health Month, it’s a good time to begin.

Steve Guerber is executive director and Melissa Thomas is clinical director at the Center for Community Counseling in Eugene, a nonprofit organization providing mental health services to uninsured low-income adults in Lane County.

Copyright © 2012 — The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA


"LEGALLY BLONDE" - SATURDAY, MAY 19

“Legally Blonde” Legally Blonde Benefit Fund Raiser For The Center for Community Counseling Eugene at the Actor’s Cabaret Saturday May 19, 2012

Flyer To Print


CENTER OFFERS ANGER AND PARENTING WORKSHOPS

The Center is continually compiling lists of individuals and couples interested in attending workshops on stress and anger management and/or improving parenting skills. If a workshop is not immediately available, potential participants who pre-register will be contacted as dates are identified for future sessions.

Facilitated by licensed counselor Cori Taggart, sessions help participants recognize “early warning signs” of anger and to learn skills for making the right choices when upset with children.

The classes are for clients who are not court mandated. 

Workshops are held on Wednesdays for five weeks from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Center’s office at 1465 Coburg Road in Eugene. Free on-site childcare is provided. Sliding scale fees for attending workshops are based on income. Couples are encouraged to attend.

“I would recommend this class to anyone who has problems dealing with their feelings,” one parent said at the conclusion of a five-week workshop. “I can now recognize when I am being angered, why I am becoming angry, and what I can do to calm myself.” 

To inquire about upcoming workshops or to be added to a list for a contact in the future, call the Center for Community Counseling at 541-344-0620.


CCC SEEKING GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN

The growing number of grandparents who are more often responsible for overseeing homework and dishing out discipline instead of warm cookies and hugs to their grandchildren is an issue of growing interest to the Center for Community Counseling. A series of workshops sponsored by the Center with a grant from the 2010 Great Rotary Duck Race, have helped substantiate the need for assistance in dealing with such matters as stress management, conflict resolution, parenting issues and resources, and relationships with adult children.

“They’re really a silent and growing population,” says workshop facilitator Mary Schrey of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. A therapist and educator and volunteer at the Center with more than two decades of experience working with children and families, Schrey says interest in this issue has increased since the Pew Research Center released a national report in 2010 showing that one child in 10 lives with a grandparent. While increasing slowly and steadily over the past decade, that figure has risen sharply since the beginning of the current recession. “Having to deal with the responsibility of grandchildren living with you when you also have to deal with the failings of your own adult children just contributes to the conflict and the changes in the relationships this situation brings about,” Schrey says. “Just who do you watch out for?”

A pair of two hour workshops sponsored by the CCC in January and March resulted in the creation of a six-week support group for grandparents that began meeting on Tuesday mornings. When the number of requests to participate in that workshop created an overflow situation, a second session was created that meets in the afternoon.

KEZI-TV ran a feature story on grandparents raising grandchildren  that concluded by mentioning the CCC support group.  The story featured a couple that had participated in the program, along with an interview with coordinator Mary Schrey.  It is in the  “Baby On Board” series on the KEZI Features page.

The Group for Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren meets on Tuesday mornings. It is listed in the Lane Community College Community Education Class Schedule as a Successful Aging Institute course.  

If you are interested in registering for the support group, or know a grandparent raising grandchildren who might be interested, please call the Center for Community Counseling at 541-344-0620.


BRIGHTER HORIZONS ALLIANCE IS NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM FOR BUSINESSES

The Center for Community Counseling has created a new program as an opportunity for businesses to express ongoing funding support for the CCC and the clients that it serves.

Called the “Brighter Horizons Alliance,” membership in the group provides visibility for companies responding to what is an increasing need to deal with the important matter of mental health and parental services for low income and uninsured residents in Lane County. Alliance members will be listed on the CCC website, recognized in publications of the Center, and identified in program-related publicity.

Information on joining the Alliance is available by contacting Steve Guerber at the Center office at 541-344-0620. Membership is for a one-year period. Those who join will be contacted on an annual basis and encouraged to continue their support of the Center with a renewed membership.


Please call our offices at
541-344-0620 for more information.

Mon. - Thur., 9am - 3pm

Donate to Center for Community Counseling

The CCC supports its programs through the generosity of volunteers, fees for service, business and foundation grants, and individual donations.

CENTER FOR COMMUNITY COUNSELING

Staff Members

Steve Guerber
Executive Director

Melissa Thomas
Clinical Director

Lesley Sabini
Office Manager

Board of Directors

Sadie Dressekie
President

Jennifer Wagner
Vice President

Laurel Anderson
Secretary

Andrea Smith, CPA
Treasurer

MB Barlow
Member

Rick Friedrich, M.D.
Member

Betsy Hoell
Member

Karen McCowan
Member

Helen Reed
Member

Beth Walsh
Member

Len Calvert
St. Thomas Episcopal Church Liaison

Sally O’Donnell
Volunteers Representative

Roger
Johnson
Episcopal Diocesan Representative