New in house mental health counselor service at Vincent Village is popular with the residents

June 11--It has been several months now since Janell Lane, MA, LMHC, stepped into the role of Director of programs and therapeutic services at Vincent Village, INC.

Lane said her counseling sessions are full daily and it is not uncommon for her to get a knock on her door from a resident who just wants to stick their head in and share something with her. By being on site Lane has been able to gain the trust of clients who in the past were reluctant to seek support for mental health issues. Lane provides in house counseling for the residents, both individual, couple and family.

Communication can be a problem when one is living in a structure with multiple families who are all under the stress of being homeless and trying to get back on their feet. Vincent House has 10 families in the shelter and an apartment where two families live in their phase one program. They also have their phase two program where they transition families into homes. Their rent is subsidized until they can make it on their own. They get a stair-step transition to functioning on their own again.

In the phase one program Sue Todia, director of family development, said sometimes their are 45 people all under one roof. With multiple parenting styles and living in close proximity it can be stressful.

Lane said although they are not a domestic violence center they often find clients who have had domestic violence issues in their past and this can cause problems and issues for them in the shelter. In therapy she can also see the end result of child abuse. Sometimes living in close proximity with others it can trigger memories. People have put up boundaries to protect themselves from these painful memories, or thorns, but with some many people they keep bumping up against these boundaries and this can cause problems. Lane said that is why it is so helpful to have on site counseling available so their residents can work through these issues.

"Once that past thorn is removed it no longer hurts," Lane said.

As people are working and learning new skills it can bring up emotional stuff and it just makes sense have someone on site to work through this process.

Having worked for East Allen Schools and ACJC with early age youth and parents Lane said kids don't feel comfortable talking to their parents about the issues homelessness because they don't want their parents to feel more guilty about being in the shelter. They are trying to protect their parents Lane said. Having her around gives them someone to turn to who is around and easy to access. Kids often feel judged by their peers, they don't want their classmates to know they are homeless.

"There is a stigma attached to it, just like issues with a mental health," Lane said.

Lane said if someone admits to hearing voices, people are probably going to judge that person differently.

"We like to believe we are not prejudice, but the way your brain processes, you categorize things and stereotyping fits into that categorizing so nicely," Lane said.

There are certain stereotypes attached to homelessness just like there are those attached to schizophrenia Lane said. One thing specific to this population is by the time they get to this point they are dealing with a crisis or a series of crisis. Anytime anyone is dealing with a crisis they need support to help get through it. It's hard for people to find the time to take care of themselves. Lane likes to tell people that their counseling sessions are the one hour a day when they get to focus on just taking care of them self.

Prior to Lane's coming they had used outside counseling services that came in Todia said. But it was always very difficult to get people to take advantage of it. The stigma of mental health kept many who needed it away. Having Lane onsite at the house meetings and programs has given people a chance to know her and trust her plus her approach seems to get people past the "mental health issue " stereotype.

"While we still use some outside mental health counseling services more residents are getting mental health counseling since Lane had been here," Todia said. Being on site Lane sees the interaction in the shelter and in class and can get to the underlying issues more quickly.

"This is just one more step we can give our clients to help them become self-sufficient," Todia said.

Lane added, its better they address these deep seated emotional issues now instead of taking it with them back into the workforce where it could cost them their job.

Located at 2827 Holton Ave., Vincent Village is a nonprofit organization that was created to help homeless families with children gain permanent housing and financial self-sufficiency. For more information go to www.vincentvillage.org

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