By Joan Worley For Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — A clinic to provide free and confidential mental health counseling for youths will open Thursday.
The Port Townsend Youth Mental Health Clinic at 1136 Water St. will provide free and confidential mental health counseling for clients 13-25 years old.
The pilot project aims to help troubled young people, especially those wary of seeking help through regular channels.
“I don’t think you can have too many services for vulnerable populations,” said Karen Ciccarone, R.N.
She said she “tried to retire” to Port Townsend after a career as a psychiatric nurse but found herself volunteering to help at-risk youth.
“From what I’ve seen, there is a lot of need out there,” she said.
In addition to her own experience, Ciccarone cited 2011 statistics from the Jefferson County Public Health Department showing that the county has a higher percentage than state averages of students in grades 6-10 reporting “serious suicidal ideation.”
The breakdown for the students, as reported by the health department, was 16.5 percent of the county’s sixth-graders compared with 14.1 percent statewide, 18.9 percent of the county’s eighth-graders as opposed to 14.4 percent statewide and 18.6 percent of the county’s high school sophomores compared with 17.2 percent statewide.
Figures for 2012 were not available.
Ciccarone proposed a youth mental health clinic to the board of Jefferson County Medical and Advocacy Service Headquarters, also known as JC MASH, a nonprofit that has offered free medical assessments and advocacy since 1994.
Treasurer Steven Rafoth became an enthusiastic partner.
“To me it was obvious it should be under the wing of JC MASH,” Rafoth said.
He and Ciccarone secured first-year funding from the nonprofit Jefferson County Community Foundation, now a major sponsor, along with Port Townsend’s Noon Rotary Club, Sunrise Rotary and private donors.
Lead counselor Tom Duke will meet clients for appointments each Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will be available during an added drop-in period from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A drop-in therapy group will meet Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and a support group is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. the last Monday of each month.
Duke, a licensed mental health counselor and chemical dependency professional with 30 years of experience, serves the clinic at a reduced rate. Other staff are volunteers.
For clients who need more than a few counseling sessions, Duke can make a referral to one of three local licensed therapists who have pledged free services.
The clinic’s young clients may seek help for a variety of reasons.
“I’d counsel someone who came in and said, ‘I’m lonely,” said Duke, adding that the relationship of client and therapist is “like peeling an onion,” an ongoing process of developing trust in order to communicate.
Duke, Ciccarone and Rafoth stress that one key to success is to make access to mental health care easy, safe and affordable to every person who steps through the door.
The intake procedure, for example, requires a simple one-page form, and services are free.
In September, the JC MASH medical clinic will move into the same building, making other free medical services easily available to youth mental health clinic clients.
Therapists at the youth mental health clinic do not prescribe medication, but the clinic can refer clients to a psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner or JC MASH medical director Dr. James K. Rotchford.
Confidentiality is also key to the project. Neither parents nor agencies are notified when a young client makes an appointment.
In cases of abuse or when young people may be dangerous to themselves or others, clinic staff must file reports. Otherwise, the client’s privacy is inviolate.
That policy applies even to clients who may be using drugs.
“Most mental health patients,” said Ciccarone, “have co-occurring disorders and self-medicate in some way.”
If a client who uses drugs is clearheaded enough for the session to be useful, Duke will work with that. If not, he will reschedule the session.
The youth mental health clinic has support from established resources.
Dove House, 1045 10th St., can assist clients who have experienced sexual abuse or domestic violence.
The Boiler Room, 711 Water St., provides a place run by teen volunteers where youths in need of support can get together and is expected to be a valuable resource for alerting potential clients to the youth mental health clinic’s services.
Although local school districts have their own school-based mental health clinics, the superintendents of Port Townsend, Chimacum and Quilcene/Brinnon school districts were enthusiastic about the idea of the youth clinic, being aware that some students would prefer an off-site option.
Ciccarone said the Jefferson County Public Health Department will stock rack cards for the youth clinic, and she hopes to enlist churches and other community organizations in publicizing the new clinic.
After the first year, the clinic will undergo review via anonymous client surveys and other tools. Rafoth already has begun to identify potential future sources of funding.
