Many CSRA residents struggle with mental health problems, and it can take weeks or even months to see a psychiatrist. But waiting is no longer necessary, thanks to a new treatment center now open in Columbia County.
High Focus Centers just opened a new location at 607 Ponder Place, near Tuscany Spa in Evans that currently offers adult mental health services, such as partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, according to its Executive Director, Marlea Bodie.
High Focus treats patients with a variety of diagnoses, including depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.
Bodie said partial hospitalization is designed for patients who have just been released from the hospital and includes group therapy five hours a day, five days a week, as well as individual and family therapy.
“It’s a step-down level of care,” she said.
Intensive outpatient therapy is a step down from partial hospitalization. The difference is patients participate in group therapy three hours a day, three days a week.
The Evans location has developed a partnership with Bluff Augusta, a substance abuse treatment center located in south Augusta. Once patients are released from Bluff, they’re eligible to enroll in High Focus’s programs. Both facilities are owned by the same company, Pyramid Healthcare.
The center currently has three counselors and plans to hire more, as well as a nurse practitioner.
“Each patient sees the nurse practitioner once a week for evaluation and medication management,” Bodie said. “We offer more treatment options and have experienced clinicians.”
Early next year, they will begin offering substance abuse treatment and adolescent mental health services.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a teenager or adult now who’s suffering from some sort of mental health issue, who doesn’t also have a co-occurring substance abuse problem,” said the center’s Community Liaison, Shane Sheppard.
In this role, Sheppard speaks to individuals, families, and groups about High Focus’s programs.
“We can see mental health issues are prevalent across the board,” Bodie said.
She said Covid has exacerbated many of those issues for both adults and children. For example, many children are struggling in school after learning from home for several months during the pandemic.
Founded in 1994 in New Jersey, High Focus Centers also has locations in Georgia, North Carolina, and Connecticut.
“It’s a very well-known company in the Northeast,” Sheppard said.
For more information, contact him at 706-834-0809, call the Intake Department at 866-204-7306 or visit highfocuscenters.pyramidhealthcarepa.com/.
