Counseling and Resource Center opens new location in Westfield.
By Megan Arszman
It all started in a cabin in 2010, a place where people looking for help navigating mental issues and life’s obstacles. It has since expanded into a counseling center servicing Indiana, with its Hamilton County location in Westfield.
The Cabin Counseling and Resource Center originally opened its doors on South Walnut Street in 2019 with the mission to provide quality mental health care. The location has served them for three years, but the group found that it needed to find a new location after losing the site on Walnut due to eminent domain.
“The Cabin first opened in Zionsville in August 1999 as part of a church…” says Deirdra Rausch, Ph.D., LMFT, Executive Director of The Cabin. “In an effort to increase access for Hamilton County residents, we made the decision to add space and, subsequently, services in Westfield. The town was very welcoming and excited to have an established counseling center move into the neighborhood.”
The new location at 115 N. Union opens in November, and it allows the opportunity to expand services and offer more available therapists. Overall, the program employs over 22 therapists, a dietician, a life coach and a psychiatrist. Westfield’s location currently includes License Mental Health Counselors Julie Paavola, Drew Good, Lauren Glanders and Anne Collins, as well as counselor Jess Doan.
The Cabin is a registered nonprofit, which means that it can provide these services to individuals in the county that perhaps cannot afford them. This is very important to the staff of The Cabin.
“Fifty percent of children and teenagers and 60 percent of adults diagnosed with a mental health issue do not pursue care—access to care and the cost are often cited as the primary reasons,” says Dr. Rausch. “The Cabin has responded to both of these issues by adding locations and offering financial assistance through the Samaritan Fund.”
Dr. Rausch goes on to say that approximately 30 percent of those who come to The Cabin qualify for financial assistance. The Samaritan Fund at The Cabin was created to subsidize counseling fees for those who cannot afford services. Qualification for the fund is based on the poverty guidelines updated periodically by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In addition to the traditional therapy (in person or telecommuting), The Cabin offers:
- Adventure Therapy – hands-on and outdoor-based form of therapy that uses active and experimental approaches
- Expressive Arts Therapy – the practice of sing imagery, storytelling, dance, music, drama, poetry, movement, play and visual arts in an integrated way
- Evey Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) – designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories
- Enneagram Assessments
- Gallup Strengths Coaching – the first step in helping people identify their talents
- Sport Psychology
- Infertility Counseling – therapists are specially trained in the physical and emotional aspects of infertility
- Play Therapy – a form of expression for kids who may not have the vocabulary or ability to express their thoughts and feelings
The Cabin also provides wellness programming for businesses and community members as a way of outreach to the community.
To find out more about The Cabin’s new location in Westfield, visit their website http://thecabin.org, or visit the new location at 115 N. Union Street.
