Outpatient's primary modalities will be group, family, and individual counseling for individuals with a mental health illness. Medication Management and supportive counseling will also be provided. In all cases, intervention goals will be individualized through treatment planning with the client.

Group Counseling:
Group counseling enables the client to draw support from others in similar circumstances while providing the opportunity to receive feedback in the context of the group. It offers a forum wherein problem solving techniques are learned and can be applied. It also develops feelings of safety and stability.

Family Counseling:
Family counseling is often indicated when a child is the identified client. A family systems approach offers a more effective and efficient mode of counseling. Goals are driven by the family's presenting problem. The presenting problem may begin with a focus on a child's behavior. Change is seen as positively affecting the family organization, coping skills, and management of problems. The overall goal is to help the family develop these mechanisms, which can be used in future crises.

Individual Counseling:
Individual counseling, or psychotherapy, is a primary modality used in a community mental health center. The counselor facilitates client growth in acknowledging the problem, understanding its origins, and choosing problem solving solutions.

Therapists employ various methods of psychotherapy and are considered eclectic in style. Depending on the client and presenting problem, the therapist may employ a more specific focus, such as cognitive, behavioral, gestalt, or person-centered psychotherapy. Regardless of the modality used, a brief, solution-focused modality is preferred given the nature of a community mental health center. The overall goal is to facilitate the development of appropriate coping skills and problem solving mechanisms.

The outpatient program uses group and individual therapy and psychoeducational sessions in treating adults age 18 and over. A treatment plan is developed with the individual so that it is specific to that person and meets their needs.

Treatment is provided through an interdisciplinary team approach which includes psychiatric, psychopharmacological, psychotherapeutic, and nursing interventions. Individuals are expected to actively participate in the treatment process and be stabilized to the point where structured therapy on a weekly, or less frequent schedule, will be effectively and ethically of sufficient benefit to increase the consumer's level of functioning.

Psychoeducational sessions include anger and stress management, assertiveness initiatives, the impact and consequences of drug and alcohol use, conflict resolution, and the development of wellness tools and skills, among others.

L.I.F.T. is an acronym for Lasting Interventions for Families in Treatment. It is a family-based program designed to provide intensive, time-limited, in-home services which will bring the family together to identify root problems and help all family members work together to begin resolving these problems. Referrals may be made from any school or agency in the Schuylkill County Region.

The goals of the L.I.F.T. Program are:

L.I.F.T. differs from all other mental health services because treatment takes place in the family's home and out in the community. In-home therapy provides access to all relevant members in the family system, especially the younger children. The home environment provides the opportunity for the L.I.F.T. team to see the family in their own context, enhancing greater opportunities for success.

L.I.F.T. services are team delivered, utilizing two staff members per session. Teams are also available to assist families during crisis situations. By helping to de-escalate the crisis, the team can help the family work through it in a constructive manner and possibly reduce the need for hospitalization.