By Haley Lena, Colorado Community Media
Southeast Counseling Center in Parker has evolved from a single-employee operation in a janitor's closet to a nonprofit with 25 therapists serving 700 families with specialized services
Every organization has to start somewhere. For Southeast Counseling Center (Sourtheast) in Parker, it started in an old janitor’s closet with one therapist, two interns and a couch. Today, it’s a nonprofit with 25 licensed therapists serving 700 families.
“Our desire (is) to provide high-quality mental health services that (are) affordable and accessible for people who desperately need it,” said Peter Barber, board member of Southeast.
Barber was a pastor at Southeast Christian Church in 2010 when he noticed a gap between the need for competent mental health care and access to such services. At the time, he added, mental health services and pastoral care rarely coincided.
Believing the two facets of mental wellness care could work together, Barber helped to implement a counseling center at the church. In 2018 it became a separate nonprofit. Although the center still maintains a referral relationship with the church, it’s no longer connected to the church and Barber no longer serves as the church’s pastor.
While many of the therapists at Southeast are Christian, Barber said they don't evangelize or proselytize. They exist to benefit everyone in their community.
“We don’t hide the fact that we’re Christian, but we’re also not pushing our beliefs onto clients,” said Barber. “We’ve (served) atheists, Buddhists, witches.”
Working to fill the gaps
Involved with the organization since the beginning, Jason Bell, Southeast's counseling executive director ,who also serves as a counselor, said they have further defined the reasons for this type of organization. One is the growing gap between those who qualify for assistance, like Medicaid, and those who don't.
“The gap means you’re cutting something out,” said Bell. “Most often, that’s some form of health care.”
The center has partnered with other Douglas County organizations, pooling resources to fund care for people living in the gap. The Douglas County Community Foundation, the Parker Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Aloha Fund have funded the center’s Therapy Subsidy Program. It subsidizes monthly sessions for those who living between self-sufficiency and government support.
Bell said the center subsidizes “about 40% of the client base who are living in the gap."
Barber added that if individuals can't pay the full fee, therapists offer a sliding scale, meaning a decreased fee affordable for patients while therapists still receive full pay. The center’s goal was to create a model where therapists didn’t have to sacrifice income to provide skilled support.
“Every therapist gets their full take-home pay regardless of who they see, and the center then subsidizes the difference,” Barber said.
The center’s client base also expanded in the fall of 2024 to serve Medicaid recipients.
Tailoring to the needs of patients
Although mental health agencies exist across Douglas county, Barber and Bell believe Southeast stands out because of its intake process. For most people searching for a therapist through insurance, they see a list of in-network providers who're available and a brief description. Then, they're left hoping the provider they choose is a good fit, Barber said.
Instead, Southeast maintains an intake team to conduct comprehensive assessments, including a personal interview.
“When (the team does) that, they’re able to tailor the kind of service that the clients need in a way that’s far better than, like, a 30-minute phone interview or finding someone in your insurance database,” Bell said.
Barber said the goal is connect a patient to a therapist who matches their personality and understands their needs. To ensure that fit, Southeast even reaches out to other community providers, he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about you needing to come here, it’s what is best for you, the client, (and) what you need,” Barber said.
Southeast has various speciality teams, including addiction counselors and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)-certified trauma therapists. It offers a same sex domestic violence treatment group, and the domestic violence and forensics team also provides services for court-ordered treatment of offenders for the 18th and 23rd Judicial Districts.
Southeast caters to all aspects of family life, including therapeutic parenting groups, child and adolescent specialists working with children as young as three years old and play therapists to provide age-appropriate interactions.
The center doesn't offer medications or inpatient treatments. Instead, it partners with nearby psychiatrists and local agencies.
“This organization is now situated … straddling communities of faith and healthcare and law,” said Bell. “All of those different institutions, in one way or another, help to make treatment accessible.”
This article was republished with permission from Colorado Community Media, a network connecting more than 350,000 residents each week to news and events that matter most.
