Therapy on the Cutting Edge

By Tina V. Bryson

Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Family Life Counseling Program steps in every day to meet the needs of our participant families. They ensure that highquality counseling is available to children and adults dealing with mental health issues in Appalachia.

“I was pleased to inform him that we would never turn away someone due to their inability to pay,” Griffith said. “His treatment was successful, and I still see him occasionally some 22 years later, living a well-adjusted life. I’m proud to have been a servant of the greater good in his life.”

Chris Griffith, manager of CAP’s Family Life Counseling Program, knows that the seeds planted by his staff can continue to bloom long after clients are no longer being seen. He remembers one of his first participants who told him that although he didn’t have the money for treatment, he desperately needed help.

CAP’s counseling program now has three locations to treat patients as well as limited services at the Pike County Child Protective Services office. This includes CAP’s headquarters facility in Paintsville, Mount Vernon, and a new site at the Foley Mission Center in Martin, Kentucky. The new location partners with a nearby women’s shelter where domestic violence victimization and related substance misuse issues are common.

“My counseling work primarily involves services to adults and some adolescents,” said Terrie Harris, who leads a group of parents involved with Child Protective Services. Parents in the group often have multiple issues that they need help working through. Often that includes anxiety, trauma, depression, and relationship issues between parents and their children, their partners, or their family. “Parents are the linchpins of the family system. It is important that we recognize that and seek to impact those dynamics,” she added.

“I researched clinical and academic concepts that support the input of parents,” Harris explained. She has spent the past seven years working on her doctorate and her dissertation which focuses on what is distinctive about parenting in Appalachia.

“Experience has taught me that there can be anxiety around how to be a parent in general, as well as in our changing world and culture,” she said. “These issues can significantly contribute to relapses of depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and addiction in individual parents.”

Her research has led to the creation of an Appalachian-parenting based curriculum which is culturally-based and culturally-generated. Harris hopes these interventions can prevent the breakup of family units. “Our Appalachian children need help,” she stated. “The foster care system isn’t working and is adding a tremendous amount of burden on grandparents. We must show our parents a better way.”

Harris’s curriculum is not the only innovative approach that CAP is pursuing. She and many of her colleagues have also been trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). In this treatment, a client will focus on an event or thought that they want to reprocess while being exposed to an external stimulus which might include eye movements, taps, or tones. Through this system, clients focus on positive thoughts such as the strength and resilience they used to survive traumatic circumstances.

Dale Hamilton, a CAP therapist for 11 years, says that EDMR has become his preferred form of therapy to treat sexual abuse, violence, and other traumas. He also uses it with clients that have irrational beliefs that lead to anxiety, depression, and negative self-image. “It is a highly-researched form of therapy that has shown the ability to provide effective and efficient progress with minimal re-traumatization from having to relive the experience,” Hamilton explained.

He is also trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), another evidenced-based form of treatment used for children who have experienced trauma. It helps children address distorted and upsetting beliefs about the trauma and learn skills to help cope with the associated stressors. “Having the training in both areas provides an increased ability to serve children and families in Appalachia,” Hamilton noted.

Griffith continues to develop his staff to meet the increasing mental health challenges facing children, individuals, and families in Appalachia.

In addition to Harris and Hamilton, who work out of Johnson County, JaLane Speaks serves in Rockcastle County. Griffith has also recently hired Sabrina Duncan, who brings a wealth of experience dealing with trauma in children and adolescents.

“I want to extend CAP’s ability to serve through expanding our billing of insurance programs,” said Griffith. “I also want to increase our capacity to serve challenging populations through the inclusion of advanced, cutting-edge interventions via training like EMDR and TFCBT.”

Griffith isn’t only focused on CAP’s growth, but he is also committed to providing training opportunities for mental health professionals throughout the state. He currently serves as president of the Kentucky Mental Health Counselors Association (KMHCA) and sees that as a way to expand how many people have access to these vital services.

“I want to make sure that we advance the profession by providing training opportunities and networking for mental health professionals that can lead to greater access to services for people in need in Kentucky,” Griffith said. Under his leadership, KMHCA has expanded its online presence and is working to expand chapters in every region of the state. “When we develop these professional relationships, they provide a greater community to expand the impact of mental health professionals in Kentucky.”

Griffith takes satisfaction in the way the Family Life Counseling Program continues to make a significant difference in the lives of children and adults dealing with mental health challenges in Appalachia. He concluded, “I am proud that CAP is helping to lead those efforts on behalf of vulnerable populations in Appalachia and throughout the state.”