Aiken, S.C. — Aiken Barnwell Mental Health Center (ABMHC) will celebrate the Grand Opening of the newly established Helping Encourage Recovery Options (HERO) Center on October 24, 2007. The center will hold a formal presentation and tour from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., with drop-in tours from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The philosophy of the center is “Shared Decision Making,” a person-centered clinical method that encourages clients and clinicians to collaborate on treatment decisions and which involves work with a Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS), a paraprofessional who is a current or former client of mental health services. The Shared Decision Making model is currently being used by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and the Wyandot Center in Kansas City, KS.
At the center, a CPSS will assist each client in gathering information about his or her diagnosis and learning about interventions like lifestyle changes, talk therapies, medication, legal procedures, advanced directives, and others. Certified Peer Support Specialists Wayne Moseley and Cynthia Smith will operate the HERO center with guidance from Dr. Greg Smith, Medical Director, and Tamara Smith, LMSW- Program Director for the Community Support Programs.
ABMHC is pleased to receive support and mentoring on this project from Dr. Robert Drake and Katherine Clay of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Charlie Rapp and Melanie Riefer of the Wyandot Center in Kansas City, KS; and Dr. Patricia Deegan of Pat Deegan Ph.D. & Associates, LLC. Additionally, ABMHC is proud to have Mental Health America-South Carolina as a partner in this endeavor. South Carolina SHARE, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have also provided literature and resources for the center.
Aiken Barnwell Mental Health Center is one of seventeen Community Mental Health Centers in South Carolina operating under the auspices of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. Aiken Barnwell serves 2,267 children, families and adults, and has a primary mission to serve clients with serious and persistent mental illness.
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