At The Fortune Society, the Better Living Center (BLC) provides licensed behavioral health treatment for participants. Each participant receives person-centered, trauma-informed care to address their unique mental health needs. Through treatment, BLC aims to provide strategies to cope with the stressors of daily life and better manage anger, anxiety and depression.  

As a social worker, Gillian provides counseling and support for her caseload of participants. She is passionate about serving vulnerable individuals, particularly system-impacted people, and helping them navigate the barriers they face during the reentry process.  

“I like to use a very humanistic approach when working with folks, especially with how vulnerable this process is,” Gillian shared. “BLC is here to support them while they’re struggling, and we’re proud of them for being here. It’s a big step for some people to come in here and really start doing the work.”

Before starting treatment, individuals seeking mental health treatment must complete a comprehensive screening, including a standardized psychosocial assessment and medical assessment. During the screening process, Gillian views each participant holistically, considering their background, treatment history, and housing and employment circumstances.  

Following the initial referral, once the participant and BLC are ready to schedule their intake, participants typically have their first appointment within one or two weeks; however, once participants enter screening, BLC offers pre-admission services with peer recovery advocates. The pre-admission stage can be challenging for individuals in need of extra support, and peer-to-peer services offer unique social support while participants begin to meet with a clinician.

Gillian supervises BLC’s team of peer recovery advocates, and she emphasizes the value of social support in addition to Fortune’s mental health treatment services.  

“Peer-to-peer services are non-clinical supportive services,” Gillian explained. “While some of our clinicians may have lived experience, the peers are there to share their experiences to strengthen and help empower our participants in a different way that’s meaningful.” 

Mental health treatment at Fortune is individualized and collaborative. Participants involved with BLC work with their clinician to identify and work toward achieving their goals.

Throughout treatment, BLC clinicians are attuned to participants and any symptoms they may be experiencing. It is important to understand each participant’s circumstances and the barriers they might be facing. With this in mind, clinicians continue to build trust with each participant, taking a trauma-informed approach to ensure each participant feels comfortable and understood. 

BLC participants can focus on individual counseling sessions; however, group therapy sessions, treatment services groups and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) based groups like “Minding Your Emotions” are also available for additional support. Enrolled participants can also access the after-hours crisis line for crisis support from one of Fortune’s licensed therapists.