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School Matters: Adolescent Counseling Services expands its services
by Preeva Tramiel
Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS), a longtime presence in public schools, began a program called the Adolescent Counseling Program (ACP) on September 8, 2008 The program is a fee-for-service program, with a top price of $100/hour on a sliding scale. “The program is 50 percent full already, and we are putting together support groups for parents of teens, at the request of the parents” said Margaret Murchan, the director of ACP. “We don’t turn anyone away because of need.” The mission of the ACP is to offer affordable outpatient assessment, treatment and education for teens and their families in and around the greater Silicon Valley community Before this expansion, ACS provided psychological help to students on-site at public middle and high schools in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City. A child who was not part of the Palo Alto Unified School District, Sequoia Union High School District or dealing with substance abuse would have been referred to local private therapists or other agencies. More information may be viewed on the ACP webpage by going to the ACS website:
http://www.acs-teens.org
Initially starting as a pilot program, the ACP will operate out of the ACS main office at 4000 Middlefield Road, and will be coordinated and overseen by Murchan and ACS Executive Director, Dr. Philippe Rey. The program will operate during evening hours, encouraging family and parent involvement in counseling. “We are really pleased to be starting the ACP,” said Rey. “It is something that we believe is needed in the community and something that we have been planning and working on for quite some time.”
“We are doing a trial for a year,” said Susan Mirbach, President of the board of ACS. “Practitioners in the area are all in favor of us doing this." Following the ACS model for on-campus counseling, interns who are working on the hours they need to practice before licensing do some of the actual therapy. “Supervisors handle the difficult referrals.” Murchan said.
Karin Bloom, Project Director of the Palo Alto Drug-Alcohol Community Collaborative, is not concerned about interns conducting therapy. “It isn’t the training, it’s the human being. Just getting an adult to sit and pay attention to a child is magic. It’s heartbreaking when you see a child who can be helped with services, but nothing happens because the parents can’t afford to lay out $150 every two weeks, or can’t get in to see someone.” Ms. Bloom is also a part-time counselor at Walter Hays Elementary School.
Printed with permission by the Palo Alto Daily news
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