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UBCSS Now Provides Mobile Treatment Services

This New Mental Health Program Helps People in the Community Many people who need mental health services are unwilling or simply unable to attend traditional office based mental health treatment. In response to this concern in our community, Upper Bay Counseling & Support Services, Inc. offers a new program called Mobile Treatment Services (MTS). This program incorporates a proven model of care designed to provide treatment, rehabilitation, and support services to individuals who are diagnosed with a severe mental illness and whose needs have not been met by more traditional mental health treatment. Program Director Ronnie Drake, Nurse Practitioner Ngozi Chiekwu, Therapist Sabrina Dowlut-Beard, and Nurse Mary Briggs According to MTS Program Director Ronnie Drake I, D.Min, LCPC, “This mobile treatment service provides individual counseling and hands on rehabilitation services in the community. We meet the client where they are most comfortable meeting with us.  This can be their home, the shelter, library or any other community location. The MTS team offers a ray of hope for many individuals in Cecil County who grapple with the day-to-day challenges of living with a serious mental health disorder and not having success in treatment with traditional services. Upper Bay Counseling is very excited to develop Cecil County’s first MTS team.” “Going to the clients’ homes and meeting them in their natural habitat is a no-brainer to me,” Drake said. “Clients are most comfortable when you meet them on their own turf. Clients want to know that we care about them, that we not only want them to experience treatment and rehabilitation services, but also that we seek to understand and embrace their complicated world.” “For example,” he added, “this service can assist clients in understanding their mental health diagnoses, whether they may have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Clients can begin to understand the rippling effects of having a mental health diagnosis and the treatment options they have for optimally managing their symptoms.” To qualify for MTS team services, a client would need to be referred and have a diagnosis of serious and persistent mental health disorder. The client would also need Maryland Medicaid Health Insurance or be dually eligible with Maryland Medicaid and Medicare. In addition to serving as the program director, Ronnie Drake is also a team member of the MTS program. He will be working with a team of that is comprised of the following: director , prescriber , registered nurses, social worker ,co-occurring specialist, vocational specialist and peer support specialist. His team will be providing in-home therapy, medication management, psychoeducational groups, and other therapeutic and rehabilitation activities. “Clients who require these services the most,” Drake noted, “are the ones who can’t seem to manage within traditional programs. Bringing therapy and psychoeducational groups to the clients, I strongly believe, will promote in them a sense of self-respect and pride. Clients appreciate when a provider takes time to meet them where they are.” In addition, Drake indicates that therapy doesn’t necessarily have to take place in a therapist’s office in order for clients to experience symptom stabilization or rehabilitation. The MTS team wants to assure clients that they can also experience a “holistic treatment” in the comforts of their residence or even at another venue such as a restaurant, library, community center, YMCA, church, or local park. Unlike traditional mental health services, the MTS team can provide medication reviews and evaluations in the client’s preferred setting. Team members will not only help set up appointments with clients, but will also transport them to pick up medications as needed. MTS team members also assist clients with accessing community services and resources. The team works with clients to determine appropriate referrals based on their specific needs. The team members also work together in gathering information to help each client develop goals and make needed changes. “The main goal of the MTS team is to assist with symptom stabilization thus reducing emergency department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations,” says Debbie Parker LCPC, Division Director of Recovery Services at Upper Bay Counseling. “We strive to assist each client so that he or she can eventually transition to more traditional types of mental health treatment such as the outpatient services (individual psychotherapy and medication management) that we provide at our offices on Booth Street and Route 40 in Cecil County.” “As I see it,” Drake said, “the mental health field has to reinvent itself if it truly wants to meet the needs of individuals who struggle with the severe symptoms of mental illness. So it is essential to continue to search for ways in which to think outside the box.” MTS team services are available through Upper Bay Counseling in Cecil County. To learn more about this service, call us at 410-996-5104 or visit our website at www.upperbay.org. (Published Feb 16, 2016.) # # # We welcome your comments. Please let us know what you think. (Note: this page is not monitored for sensitive personal information. Please call our office at 1-800-467-0304 if you need help. If you are having a mental health or medical emergency please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.)  Read More →