|
 Universal Counseling Services’ (UCS) is a minority certified behavioral health care organization located in downtown Baltimore that has provided specialized mental health and substance abuse treatment services to children, adolescents, adults and their families since 1988.
Universal Counseling Services is certified by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for the provision of drug-free outpatient alcohol and drug abuse treatment services, outpatient detoxification services, and intensive outpatient alcohol and drug treatment services and as an Outpatient Mental Health Clinic (OMHC). In addition, UCS is certified to provide alcohol education to DWI/DUI court referred individuals.
The mission of the Outpatient Program is to provide community- based outpatient services as either a step down for patients who have completed hospital or partial hospitalization services or as an outpatient program that would be an alternative to more intensive levels of care. The approach is not limited to traditional modalities in that patients are seen weekly and more frequently (IOP) both in the office and in the home. Provided services will include individual, group and family therapies.
- Being the leading provider of comprehensive outpatient community behavioral health services
- Providing significant benefits and demonstrated outcomes to those who seek our health care services
- Recognizing the importance of our employees to the company’s success
- Delivering quality care to our patients, their families and community
- Providing outstanding services that are consumer driven
Universal Counseling Services’ philosophy is founded in the belief that individuals are psychological, physiological and socio-cultural developmental beings striving to achieve and maintain a steady balance in the face of continuous stressors. In one’s quest for harmonious balance, one fluctuates on a continuum of health between optimal health and illness.
Universal Counseling Services offers a variety of programs and services including the following:
- Substance Abuse Services
Substance abuse services include assessment, outpatient detoxification, intensive outpatient, standard outpatient, family education and treatment, physical health care, education, co-occurring disorder services and gender and trauma specific treatment.
Outpatient substance abuse treatment consists of less than 9 hours of treatment per week for a minimum of 26 weeks. Intensive Outpatient (IOP) treatment consists of 9 or more hours of treatment per week. Treatment may consist of a combination of individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, medical services, psychiatric and mental health services and psycho-educational groups. The following psycho-educational groups are provided:
- A parenting program which consists of one 120 minute class a week for 12 weeks. This program includes parenting skills, the impact of early trauma on parenting roles, and parenting at a distance.
- HIV/AIDS education/prevention group consists of the client participating in one two hour session involving lectures, audiovisual aids, role-playing, and large and small group discussion.
- Alcohol and drug education consists of one 90 minute group a week for a period of 8 weeks.
- Health education group is facilitated by the PA-C and focused on health issues related to substance use and recovery.
- Activities in Recovery utilize the world of art to assist clients in their expression of self.
- Relapse Prevention is 90 minutes in length and is held two times a week. The group focuses on the development of an individual Relapse Prevention Plan and completes exercises in relapse prevention.
- Leisure Awareness is a 3 hour group designed to assist participants in identifying skills, attitudes, and knowledge related to leisure participation and leisure lifestyle development. Developing and acquiring these attributes is a lifelong, continuous process, which can be devastated by chemical dependency. This group offers one aspect of therapeutic recreation services – leisure education – which focuses on self-awareness/leisure awareness; leisure skills and interests; socialization/ communication; and leisure resources. Constructive use of leisure time and improvement in cognitive, social and other skill areas impaired by substance abuse are emphasized.
Outpatient detoxification services are a part of UCS’ drug-free program. A client who meets the criteria for admission to outpatient detoxification will be medicated to achieve detoxification and to alleviate the symptoms associated with detoxification. This will be done in one to three weeks. In most cases, the detox visits will be included as part of the client’s involvement in IOP. However, some clients may be receiving detox services only. During detox, the client will attend treatment sessions at least three times per week for a minimum of 3 hours per day. Current protocols include a buprenorphine detoxification.
- Mental Health Services
Mental Health services consists of psycho-social assessments, parenting assessments, child/adolescent services, adult and family services, trauma specific services and Employee Assistance assessments, referral and counseling.
- Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric services include child, adolescent, and adult psychiatric evaluations and medication management.
- Consultative and Training Services
Consultative and training services include organized workshops, brown bag lunches, in-service trainings, etc.
- Employee Assistance Program
Implement and coordinate employee assistance programs and provider networks.
- Staffing Needs
Universal Counseling Services fulfills staffing needs in the area of behavioral heath care, education, and support staff services.
- Prevention and Education Services
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education, MVA approved DWI Education, HIV/AIDS Education, and Parenting Program.
At Universal Counseling Services, addiction and mental illness are believed to arise out of an imbalance between the mind, body and spirit. Just as an individual is multidimensional, so are addiction and mental health. In treatment, UCS considers in each case the agent, host and environment.
During the treatment of addiction in our substance abuse program, UCS acknowledges the potential dangers to anyone who does not use a substance in moderation or as prescribed.
UCS recognizes that there are individual differences that may make one person more susceptible to addiction/mental illness than another and acknowledges that there are many environmental factors that may influence a person’s use or abuse or coping abilities.
Universal Counseling Services strongly feels that the ideal treatment should be comprehensive and multifaceted to meet the various needs presented by individuals experiencing problems. Active involvement of the client is essential for treatment success. Abstinence is a goal in treatment and is often a necessary component in successful treatment of addictions.
Guided by this belief, our counselors and therapists employ a variety of techniques drawn from the many therapeutic models in helping. This has been found to be more effective than following a generic course of interventions which limits the scope of treatment and does not address individual needs.
Universal Counseling Services has developed partnerships which have been instrumental in the agency’s ability to provide comprehensive services in Baltimore City and throughout the State of Maryland. Those partnerships include:
- Baltimore Mental Health Systems
- Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems
- Department of Juvenile Services
- Baltimore City Public School System
- Baltimore City Health Department
- Baltimore City Dept. of Social Services
- United States Probation
- Division of Parole and Probation
- APS Healthcare
- State of Maryland
- State Certified Outpatient Mental Health Clinic.
- State Certified and Baltimore City Certified Minority Business Enterprise.
- DHMH Certified Drug Free Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Services.
- MVA Alcohol Education Alternate Provider
|
