Our Mission is...

to provide mental health services to uninsured and underserved individuals of Thurston County while building community among mental health professionals and providers.

Criteria for Eligibility

Adults age 18 and above.
Uninsured or under-insured with no mental health benefits.
Adjustment disorder with anxiety or depressed mood that might be responsive to brief therapy.
No history of sexual offense or violent behaviors.
Resident of Thurston County.
Clients who are motivated and interested in participating in therapy.
Screened by referring professional.

Mental Health Access Program

Free Mental Health Clinic

The Mental Health Access Program (MHAP) is a community-based program developed to improve access to basic mental health services in Thurston County. Volunteer therapists provide counseling (up to 12 visits), targeting clients who are troubled by anxiety or depressed mood and who might be successful with a brief intervention model. Since May of 2007, with the help of over 30 active volunteer therapists, we have completed 482 individual counseling sessions/11 group sessions and served 143 clients.

People in our community face a daunting journey trying to navigate the numerous and confusing system of service delivery that currently exists. When mental illness enters into the picture, access to services becomes even more difficult. As a result, people often do not receive services for which they are eligible. Even when services are accessed, they rarely address the full range or underlying causes of peoples’ problems. Unaddressed problems frequently escalate into more complex and costly issues. There is currently no place other than MHAP to refer clients who are in need of short-term intervention therapy which means the client frequently returns to the ED. That is why MHAP is committed to rethinking how we provide services, moving the system away from management to recovery that promotes personal responsibility and action.

Often, MHAP serves as a bridge to accessing services on a long-term basis; these include ongoing mental health services, prescriptions and a primary medical home. All of our clients are screened for eligibility for state programs and, if eligible, are offered assistance in accessing these programs. Even clients that are deemed eligible for state-supported services often have a wait time between being determined eligible and availability of services – in these cases MHAP will see clients until long-term services are available. These interim services serve a critical need for these clients by offering a stable, supportive environment until a warm handoff can be made.