“No matter how difficult and painful it may be, nothing sounds as good to the soul as the truth.”
— Martha Beck
CLARKS SUMMIT — Borough resident Rebekah Nazarchuk-Koehler is the director of clinical services at The Aaron Center, a mental health clinic located in Dickson City with satellite offices in Moosic and Carbondale. Nazarchuk-Koehler holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Marywood University and a Master’s degree in counseling from the The University of Scranton.
In discussing May as Mental Health Awareness Month founded in 1949 by Mental Health America (MHA), Nazarchuk-Koehler said, “It’s imperative that we have support systems in our life that are going to help us through the tough times.
“Somebody suppressing their emotions could be due to the stigma that still exists around mental health and how individuals may be less apt to seek out help of a mental health professional because of the label that they may get because somebody is on a psychotropic medication or may have to go and see a mental health professional once a week,” she continued. “Many may fear being perceived as weak or people may judge them if they do have to ask for help.”
Today, people can also be a victim of bullying, have a trauma history or even be a victim of a natural disaster and losing everything they own, leading to post traumatic stress syndrome.
At the same time, Nazarchuk-Koehler thinks the stigma has significantly decreased due to people being educated.
“I think technology has an influence on how people interact with each other. Sometimes, people don’t shut off social media because they choose to escape. It’s so wonderful seeing young kids playing football or baseball in their backyards. You don’t see it as much anymore. Human interaction is really lacking. In today’s society, many people don’t know their neighbors,” Nazarchuk-Koehler stated.
Six years ago, after spending 14 years in various aspects of mental health, Nazarchuk-Koehler found The Aaron Center and has seen it flourish and grow. The Aaron Center works with individuals of all ages and all mental health diagnoses. Her current position as clinical director allows her to oversee day-to-day operations and work with therapists.
“I do manage a small case load, so I’m able to implement a new technique or participate,” she said. “It’s important to me that I keep my feet in the water despite being a director of a facility.”
Depression is one of the most diagnosed mental health disorders. According to Nazarchuk-Koehler, “We definitely notice that the patients that isolate more and give away items of extreme value need to be focused on and talk about what they are feeling. We’d rather know who is suicidal and not suicidal because the person who openly talks about suicide is reaching out for help. We find that people who do commit suicide, their families say the last time they saw them they looked so happy and so great. They can’t believe this happened. And typical individuals who do complete a suicide want their loved ones to remember them in a more favorable light. So, we do want to pay attention to those people that may be overly enthusiastic or overly happy because it’s unfortunate that there is so much pain when they do make the decision to commit suicide. We need to pay attention to the warning signs that may be overly positive or extremely negative. Again, it varies from person to person.”
The Aaron Center, according to Nazarchuk-Koehler, gets to know its clients and is a therapy-heavy agency where there many are therapists and only three medication prescribers.
“We do our best to implement any kind of therapeutic intervention to help somebody, regardless of their diagnoses,” Nazarchuk-Koehler said. “And we never turn anyone away if they don’t have insurance or can’t afford to pay.
“We have such a high emphasis on talk therapy,” she continued. “A lot of unhealthy coping skills could be substance use, self-injury, behaviors that take the form of self-mutilation, burning, biting, excessively pinching themselves or pulling their hair out. Some self-isolation, not showering for days or no self-care or practices may be signs.”
A big part of what The Aaron Center does is safety and crises planning so every client it sees has a safety plan in place.
There are suicide hotlines and an entire list of others, including an AA hotline and the women’s resource center among others clients are provided with, depending on their particular needs. Employees of The Aaron Center work with other professional agencies that may help.
One such agency is The Advocacy Alliance. Its mission is to reduce stigma surrounding individuals who have a mental health diagnoses. According to the Mental Health Association of Pennsylvania (MHAPA), of which the alliance is a member, facts about mental illness include:
• People living with mental illness are your family members, friends, coworkers, role models, teachers, health care professionals, shop clerks. They are people you interact with every day. Some may be vocal about their illness, while others may attempt to hide it for fear of discrimination or shame of stigma.
• Mental illness is not caused by personal weakness or negative thinking and cannot be treated by a “change in attitude.”
• Like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, mental illnesses are often biologically based disorders and may be caused by a reaction to environmental stresses, genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, or a combination of these.
• Mental illness is the second leading cause of disability after heart disease. Additionally, mental health conditions are the second leading cause of workplace absenteeism.
• Mental illness affects people of all ages, races and ethnicities, and income levels.
According to Jen Duggan, director of advocacy and community services, through education and a better understanding of mental illness, the alliance strongly believes that we, as a community, can come together to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and work to have a stronger, more accepting society. For more information, visit www.theadvocacyalliance.org.
Nazarchuk-Koehler adds that people struggle with where to start and stresses that a primary care physician is a great place to begin. Some mental illnesses can mimic diseases and getting symptoms ruled out and a referral from the family doctor is something The Aaron Center sees often.
There are also clinical screenings open to the general public three times per year at Marywood University’s psychological services center. According to Dr. Matthew Schaffer, department head, a national depression screening day is held in the fall and a national eating disorders screening and national anxiety screening is held in the spring. It is free of charge and open to the public. A community health-based clinic is also open to the public. Charges are between 0-$40 on a sliding scale. Schaffer said the average patient pays $5 for group or individual therapy by graduate students under his direction (the psychological screening is free). Arrangements can be made by calling 570-348-6269 and asking for his department.
Nazarchuk-Koehler sums up why she works in mental health.
“I love being around people. I love helping people. I don’t know what I love more is being able to train and teach people or being able to see the success stories of people feeling better. We do a large bit of work with surrounding colleges and universities training interns, and that’s definitely satisfying to see the clinical growth within students. Overall, I love what I do, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
