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Where Faith and Counseling Meet |
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INDIVIDUAL & FAMILY
COUNSELING |
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| Samaritan Counseling Center has been providing individual and family services in Southwestern Michigan for more than three decades. Each of our counselors has earned a minimum of a Master's Degree, plus years of experience in a range of life issue therapies. A variety of ethnicities, training, and religious backgrounds offer a rich diversity of skills and knowledge to appropriately meet your unique needs - regardless of age, sex, race, culture, or creed. |
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| What to Expect When You Contact Us |
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When you call the Samaritan Counseling Center to make an appointment, the receptionist will ask you basic questions about your name, address, contact and insurance information, etc. You'll also be asked your reason for seeking help, i.e. depression, anxiety, marriage counseling, family counseling, anger management, abuse, ADHD, etc. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to voice them at this time. Then an appointment will be set that meet your therapeutic needs.
Upon arrival for your session, you'll be asked to fill out simple intake forms asking for information about any medications you're taking, how you're feeling about yourself and various aspects of your life, and to explain our confidentiality, cancellation and payment policies.
You'll meet with your therapist in a private, comfortable, confidential office. Your areas of concern will be identified and initial therapy goals will be developed. Cost per session and preferred frequency of visits (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) will be established.
Sessions are approximately 50 minutes long. The therapist will discuss your concerns and issues in a supportive, non-judgmental manner and guide you toward developing your own solutions.
Because we're a non-denominational, faith-based center, we're able to explore the spiritual, as well as the emotional aspects of your concerns. We won't try to change your religious belief system, but will rather encourage you to use your faith as a source of strength. |
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| Fees |
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Most insurance covers our services, as do many managed care providers. If you have traditional insurance, you will be asked to pay any unmet deductible costs and the co-pay for each session. Depending on your policy, co-pays usually range from 50-10% of our current fee of $90 per 50-minute session.
Payment is expected at the time of session. If you have no insurance (or cannot afford the co-pay) a reduced fee, based on your family income, may be arranged. |
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| Anxiety / Depression |
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Death of a loved one, bio-chemical imbalance, loss of job, divorce - these are a few of the potential triggers for the conditions known as clinical anxiety or depression. Affecting 17 million Americans (nearly one in ten) per year, depression can destroy family life as well as the life of the ill person. But much of this suffering is unnecessary.
Because these conditions can affect the way a person eats and sleeps, feels about oneself, and thinks about others, the Samaritan Center's holistic approach is particularly well-suited to address the complex, relational issues involved. Seeing hundreds of clients with these issues over the past three decades, the Center offers faith-based, goal-oriented guidance that helps develop effective coping and behavioral skills in all age groups. |
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PARTNERS IN A TROUBLED MARRIAGE SAY:
"We would both like to thank you for your guidance and support through our sessions with you. We've decided we are going to make it together, and will no longer need counseling. Thanks again." |
| Marriage Counseling |
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Marriage counselors at the Samaritan Center, above all, respect each individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions and how these qualities interact within the relationship. You can be assured of experienced, non-judgmental guidance to assist you with:
- Pre-marital preparation
- Marriage enrichment
- Troubled marriage
- Dealing with divorce
Of course marriage counseling alone won't "fix" a damaged relationship. However, crucial insights gained and skills learned can go a long way toward healing the emotional complexities of many matrimonial issues.
The following check list may help prepare for marriage counseling at the Samaritan Center:
- Try to encourage your partner to go with you.
- Agree on a marriage counseling service you both feel ok about.
- Don't expect easy answers or quick-fix solutions.
- Avoid the "blame game.'"
- Listen carefully and openly to what your partner is saying.
- Take seriously the guidance you receive during the marriage counseling sessions.
- Make an agreement to attend regularly.
- Expect positive outcomes.
- Be honest, be open, be direct.
- Allow yourselves time to heal the hurts.
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| Family Counseling |
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Marriage issues impact nearly every aspect of family life and the Samaritan Center offers family sessions to address these challenges. For example, if you've been seeking guidance individually for a troubled marriage, you and your therapist may decide to schedule a session or series of sessions for you to attend with your spouse, children, parents, etc.
Other issues that may develop and call for family sessions include:
- Loss of a loved one
- Work-related issues
- Stress management
- Suicide
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- Divorce adjustment
- ADHD
- Substance abuse
- Integrating second-marriage families
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| Grief Counseling |
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| Grief is one of the most common, and most troubling, experiences of life. The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, almost any significant loss or change can trigger the disruptive emotions of grief. Unexpressed grief can lead to depression, anxiety and relationship problems. Grief counseling allows the healthy expression of grief for the healing that allows a person to enjoy life once again. |
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ONE OF OUR THERAPISTS SAYS:
"Playing the 'Feelings Game' with families has allowed parent and child to laugh and discover each other all over again. Sometimes parents can be so wrapped in trouble, they forget to appreciate the unique individual God has given them to raise. One hour in counseling slows them down to remember." |
| Child Behavior Issues |
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Today's complex society often contributes to child behavior that is challenging and negatively affects parents, teachers, and children alike. Divorce, single parenting, economic difficulties, peer pressure, loss and grieving, and disorders like ADHD are just some of the issues that may trigger life-disrupting problems.
Several of our experienced staff specialize in family counseling, with an emphasis on child behavior issues, including: eating disorders, ADD, grief, child abuse, school performance and others. Depending on the child's age and circumstances, parent(s) and child will likely be seen separately and together.
Children are counseled in their own "Treetop Room," a warm and inviting environment designed to encourage a sense of comfort and safety. Counselors are well-trained in children's role-playing techniques to help identify issues and develop appropriate therapies. |
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| ADHD / ADD |
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A controversial, often-misunderstood neurobehavioral disorder, ADHD (also known as ADD), affects approximately six percent of the world's population, including children and adults. Interfering with a person's ability to stay on task and to exercise age-appropriate inhibition (cognitive alone or both cognitive and behavioral), the condition can seriously complicate the lives of those who suffer from it, and those who live and work with them.
The Attention Deficit Disorder Association says, "Clinical experience has shown that the most effective treatment is a combination of medication (when necessary), therapy, or counseling to learn coping skills and adaptive behaviors and ADD coaching for adults."
Several of our therapists are qualified in testing for and identifying childhood and adult ADHD and ADD. They also are trained and experienced in counseling both groups. Children are likely to be worked with in sessions individually and with parent(s), and when appropriate, family counseling will be recommended. Our holistic approach to childhood and adult ADHD and ADD:
- Integrates the family's faith and values into the counseling process.
- Helps develop healthy communication, cooperation, and compromise skills.
- Assists in setting and accomplishing realistic mutual behavioral goals.
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| Abuse |
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Abuse in families can take many forms. It may be physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, or, in the case of children, neglect can be a form of abuse.
Family violence can affect anyone, regardless of religion, color, or social standing. It happens in both wealthy and poor families and in single-parent or two-parent households. Sometimes parents abuse each other, which can be hard for a child to witness. Some parents abuse their children by using physical or verbal cruelty as a way of discipline. Both boys and girls can experience abusive physical punishment by a parent, although statistically, male children are beaten more often than female children.
Substance abuse, such as alcoholism or drug use, can also play a by making it difficult for the abuser to control his or her emotions and actions.
Whatever the cause of abuse, or form it takes, the Samaritan Center's staff is trained in intervention, cessation, and recovery. Follow-up sessions for both the abusive and the affected parties can help identify problems and establish new, more positive behaviors and relationship skills.
Our long history with community affiliations also makes us an excellent referral base for related services, such as safe shelters, rehabilitation centers, medical facilities, etc. |
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| Anger Management |
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Anger is an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage. Like other emotions, it is accompanied by physiological and biological changes, affecting heart rate and blood pressure, and levels of energy hormones.
Anger can be triggered by events that are external (a supervisor at work or a traffic jam) or internal (worrying about personal problems or memory of a traumatic event). The lack of ability to manage the emotion and the body's triggered response can lead to serious consequences, such as abuse of self or others, or worse.
The goal of anger management is to reduce both the emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. Most often, one can't get rid of, avoid, or change the things or people that enrage. But strategies are available to control reactions.
People use a variety of both conscious and unconscious processes to deal with their angry feelings. The three main techniques are:
- Expressing - a healthy ability to make clear what one's needs are and how to get them met without hurting others.
- Suppressing - a less healthy approach, converting or redirecting anger into more constructive behavior. The danger in this type of response is that if it isn't allowed outward expression, anger can turn inward, possibly causing hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression.
- Internal calming - an excellent response involving control, not only of outward behavior, but also of internal responses, taking steps to lower heart rate, calm down, and letting the feelings subside.
Our counselors can measure the intensity of angry feelings, how prone to anger a person is, and how well, and in what ways that person handles the emotion. These techniques are very effective in developing coping and management skills. |
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| Senior Issues |
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During the "Golden Years," special psychological challenges, such as depression, may develop as a person's abilities and general health decreases. Several of our veteran staff members specialize in the needs of seniors. Accumulating decades of experience and training in marriage, family, and pastoral counseling has given our therapists a knowledgeable, unique perspective on mental health for seniors and their caregivers.
As an integral part of the Southwestern Michigan service community and as a United Way Agency for several decades, we are also well-equipped to refer you to other local agencies which provide senior-specific medical, nutritional, housing, and recreational services. |
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| Other Life Issues |
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Samaritan Center counselors are trained to deal with a wide range of issues that cause problems in people's lives. A typical day in a therapist's schedule might include:
- A recovering alcoholic
- A grief-stricken mother whose child committed suicide
- An adult survivor of childhood sex abuse
- A depressed grandmother raising troublesome grandchildren
- A family raising a handicapped child
- A young couple reconciling after an affair
- A single parent overwhelmed with the responsibilities of working and parenting
The Samaritan Center is a good place to start for help with virtually any problem that keeps you from living a rewarding, fulfilling life. |
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