Reconciliation Services Depression and Trauma Therapy Services

Reconciliation Services' Trauma & Depression Therapy Program—developed over a 4-year pilot partnership with Jackson County Mental Health Fund (JCCMHF)— helps struggling men and women find healing and greater self-sufficiency. This restoration not only affects their own quality of life but their families’ as well, thereby impacting the entire community. This program is referred as “stealth mental health,” because it uses a community-embedded approach to gaining trust and building relationships as a foundation for more long-term mental health work. One aim of the program is to reduce barriers to care and eliminate the stigma associated with seeking mental health support by countering and healing underlying mental health issues through group therapy, individual therapy, follow-up support groups, and intensive case management. Healing in the community is brought about by the direct and personal intervention that treats not only the symptoms of poverty but the trauma at the root. By combining individual and group therapy, support groups and intensive case management with wraparound social services, the host organization is better prepared to offer comprehensive support for clients working towards their own healing. The program uses the STAIR (Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation) Curriculum, which helps reduce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and problems in emotional regulation and social and relationship functioning. Treatment tools include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which offers an active, structured, problem-focused and time sensitive approach to treatment aimed at combating faulty thinking patterns related to traumatic events; and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which further alleviates the distress associated with traumatic memories and helps to identify emotional triggers.

The mission of Reconciliation Services is to cultivate a community seeking reconciliation to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, revealing the strength of all. Our mental health services are at the heart of how we strive to help clients see their own strength and work towards being reconciled to their own health and well-being.

Over the past three years, our therapy program participants reported a 71 percent decrease for depression and 79 percent decrease for PTSD.

Our therapeutic services have indicated year after year that early treatment and intervention helps PTSD from becoming chronic and disabling. Our strengths-based, clinical approach to mental health support consistently yields decreased symptoms of depression and trauma, with an average of 80% of clients reporting improved coping skills and reduced symptoms. Additionally, clients report success in achieving one or more of their goals for improved quality of life-based on initial intake surveys.