What is the purpose of this service?
Outpatient services are intended to reduce psychiatric symptoms and promote adaptive functioning. These services are designed to help people live independently as they stabilize and move toward recovery. Outpatient services are provided in
partnership with community-based agencies and mental health care centers. The services are based on a mental health services needs evaluation and an Individual Treatment Plan (ITP) which is monitored, reviewed, and modified as needed on an on-going
basis.
What services are offered?
Outpatient services include core mental health services such as counseling, individual and group therapy, medication, and medication monitoring. They also include support in getting and holding a job, finding a place to live, staying in school,
improving social relationships, and gaining access to benefit programs. Clients receiving outpatient services may also receive psychiatric evaluation and treatment, including prescription medications.
Consumers utilizing outpatient services often receive case management. Case management services may range from traditional one-on-one support to Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), in which a team of professionals works closely with individuals and
their families on how to manage symptoms in order to maintain independence and reduce hospitalization. Finally, outpatient residential services are also available for mental health consumers requiring more fully supported or supervised treatment.
Individuals receive support so that they can live in the least restrictive residential setting that matches their needs, with the goal of moving on to outpatient treatment at the earliest appropriate time.
One outpatient service that has been developed through the Office of Recovery Services is called the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). WRAP promotes the self-management of mental illnesses and addictions. It helps consumers monitor, reduce,
modify, or eliminate symptoms. Recovery Support Specialists have been specially trained to help consumers in developing and carrying out WRAP plans and in connecting with other mental health services. The Recovery Support Specialists are staff members
who are themselves living in recovery from mental illnesses and perhaps also substance use disorders.
Who can receive these services?
These core services are delivered to clients who have been determined on the basis of a mental health assessment to have a mental illness or emotional disturbance which significantly impairs their level of functioning.
To Get Help
Contact the nearest Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) by
In life threatening, emergency or crisis situations call 911. Hospitals, police, and fire department personnel are trained responders to situations involving mental health issues.
