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Warmline

The Edinburg Center supports a consumer-operated Warmline which is a specialized telephone call-in service. This service is operated by individuals in all stages of recovery from mental illness, who offer hope and strength to others in recovery. The Warmline offers non-crisis telephone support for individuals who are experiencing fear, grief, sadness, anger, anxiety or loneliness. All calls are confidential except when a call is considered a crisis and the caller will be referred to the local emergency services program.

Warmline operators are available from 5pm to 10pm weekdays and 1pm to 10pm weekends. Callers can also be put on a "call list" and operators will make arrangements to call the individual on a regular basis.

Peer Support & Recovery Services

Many individuals with mental health conditions have found that support from others with similar life experiences is a unique and extremely beneficial practice. The Edinburg Center strongly believes that hiring persons with lived experience of mental illness and recovery, benefits all of its staff and those persons using its services. Peer staff introduce individuals to recovery activities and local self-help groups. For instance, Edinburg Peer Support Counselors run Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) groups. WRAP "shifts the focus in mental health care from 'symptom control' to prevention and recovery. The result is significant reduction in the need for costly mental health and emergency services as people who experience mental health challenges effectively take responsibility for their own wellness by using a variety of self-help techniques and reach out for and use the support of a network of family members, friends, and health care providers." (Mary Ellen Copeland - HYPERLINK). Peer support staff also conduct other peer support activities such as Peer-to-Peer workshops and a Dual Recovery Anonymous meeting which provides support to individuals who have both mental health and substance use conditions.

The Edinburg Center’s Elm Street clinic provides outpatient counseling and medication services to local residents. Many clinic consumers use a treatment strategy known as CommonGround. This program provides consumers with peer support, education and assistance with communicating to their medication prescribers the most important things in their lives, their aspirations, and the role that medication plays in supporting those things. Peer support staff help consumers describe their well being since their last visit and any changes that the prescriber should be aware of. The CommonGround program, designed by Pat Deegan, Ph.D., encourages persons with mental health conditions to take a proactive approach to their recovery by using their own "personal medicine" (the things they have identified in their lives that they benefit from) to enhance their feelings of wellness.