Supporting you on your personal journey to
well-being

Many people living with a chronic health condition can benefit from talking with someone who is familiar with the unique stressors that can be caused by the illness. Clients often come to us feeling helpless, sad, or anxious, and these emotions can affect so many aspects of one’s life.

Mental health services at Tulsa CARES are provided by licensed professionals who specialize in issues common to people living with HIV as well as a range of other issues including trauma, addiction, or other diagnosed disorders.

Therapy

Therapy includes individual, couples, or family counseling, and our mental health therapists specialize in everything from trauma to anxiety to addiction. Our program coordinator is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) as well as a Certified Hypnotherapist.

Support Groups

The Mental Health Program offers a weekly support group, Oklahomans Living Positively (OLP) which is open to all persons living with HIV. Other support groups include harm reduction and Thrive, our program for women. View our calendar to sign up for support groups and view meeting times.

Specialties

Tulsa CARES offers Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for addictions, trauma, and other challenging issues. For smokers wishing to quit, Tulsa CARES offers support for smoking cessation. Other alternative therapies include sand tray and art therapy. The mental health program also includes access to secondary prevention therapies like sexual health and harm reduction.

Eligibility

Once a therapist receives a mental health referral, every effort will be made to contact the client in order to schedule a mental health session as soon as possible. A required component of initial client assessment is the mental health orientation and assessment interview. Clients are reassessed on an ongoing basis during mental health sessions.

When necessary, a therapist may refer a client to other mental health service providers that may better meet the needs of the client or provide additional support and services.

Clients do not need to receive care coordination to participate in the mental health program; however, they generally must meet the same guidelines for eligibility.