There is no limit to the issues that our counselors can discuss with you. We are equipped to provide both short-term and long-term counseling for individuals, families, couples, and groups. Our multi-cultural, multi-lingual staff is composed of licensed clinical and educational psychologists; licensed Marriage Family Therapists (MFT); and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW). This experienced staff is augmented by MFT/Social Work interns, trainees, community workers, student workers and volunteers.

Effective Parenting:

In these times of shifting values and permissive standards of behavior, even the most experienced parents admit that raising children to be responsible and productive adults is a formidable task. The Effective Parenting Course, offered by CMHP, provides parents with tools necessary to meet this challenge. Some of the issues explored are: child development, age appropriate behavior, discipline, peer and street pressure, single parenting, and grandparents who are parenting again. Together, parents share their experiences, learn from each other and are introduced to parenting techniques that are necessary as we move into the 21st century.

Domestic Violence:

The philosophy of our domestic violence program is to teach clients how to stop the cycle of violence and not pass on the pain. Domestic violence is an issue that effects the lives of women, children and men on a daily basis and is caused by complex psychological factors. Because it is rare for individuals to sucessfully change their violent behavior without a trained professional, CMHP offers Domestic Violence/ Anger Management group classes that work toward an understanding of the dynamics that lead to domestic violence and anger management. In this program, further steps are taken to develop strategies to prevent future abuse.

Pre and Post HIV Test Counseling:

Because HIV Testing can be unnerving, CMHP provides HIV Seroprevelence Pre- and Post- test counseling. Our staff has been trained and certified as HIV/ AIDS counselors, by the Association of Black Psychologists, and the Progressive Life Center of Washington, D.C. in an Afrocentric approach. This means that we are sensitive to your emotional needs and are able to handle this delicate situation with the utmost patience and tenderness.

Conflict Resolution:

Our trained staff is committed to sharing their knowledge and expertise in non-violent interpersonal and inter-group conflict resolution. Sometimes, conflicts may arise between individuals or groups. When this happens, we instruct the persons engaged in conflict how to:

1.Defuse crisis situations
2.Define goals and objectives
3.Sucessfully negotiate
4.Reach compromise

Conflict resolution is available to individuals , gruops, and other agencies.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing:

We provide this service to businesses, industries, agencies and schools for the purpose of the prevention of Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD). Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is a form of Psychological debriefing developed by Jeffrey Mitchell, Ph.D. of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation as a method for mitigating the harmful effects of trauma and ultimately preventing PTSD. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) may be the most widely used group technique in the world for the prevention of traumatic stress/ PTSD among high-risk emergency response personnel and persons who have experienced life threatening stress..

Additional Services:

Because we care about your total well being, CMHP provides information and referral services for a host of public and private agencies and services. Consultations on organizational, community development and educational and vocational needs are also offered. We are trained to provide psychological assessments and psycho-educational evaluations. We also provide stress management workshops for business and industry.

Questions & Answers:

Do you have to be crazy to get psychological counseling?

No. The goal of psychological counseling is to improve mental health. We fulfill this mission by helping individuals to identify the obstacles, which prevent them from moving forward in the world. You should not feel ashamed to ask for help.

I don't have money to spare for psychologial couseling, Are the services expensive?

While some organizations' services may be costly, our services are charged based on a sliding scale, meaning that the cost of services to you is determined by your income and number of dependents.

What if people find out that I am seeking psychological treatment?

Because privacy and confidentiality are important to you, we insure that the information discussed between therapist and client remains strictly confidental. No information from the meeting will be disclosed unless you have given expressed written authorization.