TWIN FALLS, Idaho — To make mental health care more accessible, Crosspointe Family Therapy in Twin Falls now offers free, walk-in therapy two days a week.
- Walk-in hours at Crosspointe are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Anyone over the age of 14 can meet with a licensed clinician about anything.
- Aspen Grove Family Therapyalso has walk-in, single-session options available with several different therapists.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Jennie Fullmer has worked in mental health for almost 15 years.
“The awareness and the willingness for people to speak and talk about mental health to reach out for help," Fullmer told Idaho News 6. "We have noticed a definite increase.”
As an owner and clinician at Crosspointe Family Services, Fullmer sees the demand for mental health care exceed the Magic Valley's supply of therapists.
That's why, starting in January, Crosspointe began offering walk-in services every Tuesday and Thursday.
"You will be seeing a licensed clinician for therapy services," Fullmer said. "We're focusing right now and doing solution-focus brief therapy so people who come in will leave with skills and tools — coping skills, coping tools, a plan."
With help from a Pacific Source Insurance grant, the goal is to improve access to mental health care in rural communities.
"(A)nd the ability for people who needed assistance who don't have a clinician or our counselor (or who are on a waitlist, or who are waiting), that if a situation arose, or things were dire that they would be able to get services without having to visit the emergency room," Fullmer says.
Another clinic, Aspen Grove, has walk-in hours on Wednesdays, so Magic Valley residents can now access quick mental health resources — three days a week.
Already, Fullmer says they've addressed a wide range of concerns.
"Men women, kids adults even some like late stage or our geriatric stage folk just needed some help," Fullmer said. "The issues have been bearing anxiety, depression, trauma, grief things like that."
Fullmer says the community's conversation around mental health continues to shed some of the stigma associated with asking for help.
"We love that because everybody has mental health needs and are willing to talk about it and seek treatment," Fullmer says.
