Personal Counseling Services (PCS), Inc.
Personal Counseling Services (PCS), Inc. was founded in 1959 as a 501 (c) 3, non-profit, and outpatient mental health organization. For three decades, PCS has served children and families in three Southern Indiana counties providing support for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Over the past sixty-one years, PCS has provided over 600,000 clinical hours to clients. Today PCS provides services to seventeen counties in Indiana and four counties in Kentucky. We have one satellite site in Seymour, Indiana and four off-sites in Madison, Jasper, Corydon, and Evansville, Indiana. One therapist is full-time at the Floyd County Jail and one is part-time at Jacob’s Well in Greenville, Indiana. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of our clients are children and youth and fifty-seven (57%) are at or below the federal poverty guidelines.
Since 2011, the United States as a whole and our local community has witnessed the merging of two public health crises: the opioid epidemic and COVID-19. The combination of these two crises is leaving a devastating impact on the mental health and physical safety of families. Prior to COVID-19, the opioid epidemic led to a 400% increase in opioid abuse rates among women and a 500% increase in infants born physically dependent to opioids (Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome). In 2020, drug overdose deaths increased by over 33% in Indiana to a total of 2,200. Nationally, overdose deaths reached the highest level ever recorded to 93,000, mainly contributed to use of opioids (Fentanyl) and Methamphetamines. According to NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), addiction is defined as “a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain. It is considered both a complex brain disorder and a mental illness. Addiction is the most severe form of a full spectrum of substance use disorders, and is a medical illness caused by repeated misuse of a substance or substances.” Severe addiction is marked by the physical dependence and tolerance to a substance creating social, spiritual, physical and emotional disorder.
PCS employs a clinical staff that has the ability to address the individualized needs of those suffering from Substance Use Disorder, supporting them along their path to recovery and healing. PCS proposes a comprehensive holistic treatment approach through medication management, weekly individual/family therapy, and intensive outpatient group programming (IOP) emphasizing the promotion of wellness and health while restoring relationships. An intensive outpatient program (IOP) is a form of substance abuse rehabilitation in which people receive at least nine hours of clinical service per week, providing an opportunity for an intense multi-disciplinary treatment approach to be provided in an outpatient setting. This allows the person served the ability to proactively begin restoring their lives while engaging in recovery support services.
PCS’ therapists use evidence-based models and are trained in trauma-informed care. Many times there are co-morbidities (two concerns occurring simultaneously) that presents challenges in a person’s recovery. For example, depression or trauma may be an underlying condition combined with alcohol or drug abuse. Our expanded program will provide intensive outpatient groups and programming, serving those in Clark, Floyd and Harrison Counties, who are being discharged from residential facilities, released from jail/prison, and those who have active cases with Department of Child Services (DCS). Our regional community has very limited availability for an evening IOP program that emphasizes trauma-informed care for the specific purpose of restoring wellness and the family. We will work collaboratively with Wellstone Regional Hospital, Clark Memorial Hospital, Baptist Floyd, the justice systems, Veteran’s Administration, and others, to address the great need for healing to our community. This recovery will occur through fostering hope, restoration of families, and the promotion of wellness and safety.